


Sparks of Magic

by whimsicalwombat



Category: The Blacklist (TV)
Genre: Aram is a magical inventor/rescuer of dragons, F/M, Samar is a bounty hunter, magical/fantasy AU, this is yet another of my fics to get way out of hand, very mischievous dragons, with dragons!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-05
Updated: 2019-01-09
Packaged: 2019-09-07 17:34:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 27,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16858345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whimsicalwombat/pseuds/whimsicalwombat
Summary: Magic/Fantasy AU Saram. When Samar returns home from a long day of bounty hunting warlocks and other dark magical nonsense, she finds a tiny dragon apparently having invited itself into her living room.And whatdoesone do with a tiny dragon appearing out of nowhere?Well. The guy at the end of the street whose house likes to spark might have a couple of ideas.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, so... This is for my lovely dragon fic anon over on tumblr who requested a magic/fantasy Saram fic <3
> 
> It was going to be a one shot, but then in typical me fashion, it got way out of hand. Again. I know, I'm as *shocked* as you guys, I tell you. *gasps*
> 
> Either way, it kind of works, because while I *had* been hoping to write a sequel to 'Holiday Havoc' this holiday season, no ideas for that have come to me. So here, have _dragons_ for your December 2018 holidays multific! :D
> 
> (Also please excuse any typos. It has been checked over by the ever-fabulous beta, but I wrote it on my tablet, half asleep and jetlagged in the middle of the desert, so who knows what nonsense could still be in here)
> 
> Happy holiday season, folks!

At first, Samar didn't even notice it. A bounty hunter, trained with deep insight into dark magic but preferring to use her skills for good  _ –mostly- _ she was constantly on the move. Her days were long and they were busy; she rarely had enough time to sleep, let alone pay attention to the smaller details inside her own home.    
  
She pulled off her jacket and tossed it over the back of an armchair before looping around the living room and collapsing into the couch. Lips pursed and brow knitted with a hint of a frown, she glanced down at the singe mark on her forearm –the result of yet another day battling the sort of wizard who was more inclined to solve life's problems by flinging curses left, right and centre. It was nothing new, and it certainly wasn't deadly, but that didn't mean it wasn't going to be a pain in the proverbial backside for a day or so until it healed over. Samar tugged her wand from her belt, ever so gently resting the tip against the singe and muttering a few, low words under her breath until the stinging sensation that made her skin feel as if it were on fire, slowly began to fade.    
  
There. That would give her some pain relief for a couple of hours until the spell wore off, at least.    
  
Her belly let out a rumble of complaint and Samar rolled her eyes, knowing she probably shouldn't be using an anti-inflammatory spell on an empty stomach, but also too tired to move to fix it. She cast her gaze around the room, glancing contemplatively at the kitchen for a moment before deciding that no, she needed to rest for a minute before moving again.   
  
And that was when she noticed it.   
  
Under the dusky lighting of the living room there was an ever so slight glint of something shimmery amongst the soft fur of her cat that was supposed to be anything but.    
'Felix,' she called softly across the room to him. The jet black cat lifted his head from where he was curled up in a ball on the armchair, his bright green eyes blinking across the room at her like beacons in the darkness. 'What have you got there, buddy?' The cat's sleek ears gave a quick twitch, and he seemed to pull his back legs in tighter, protecting whatever he was curled around, but otherwise he made no response. Samar narrowed her eyes, pushing herself up off the couch with a sigh. 'Felix,' she repeated, firmer this time. The dark hairball's tail flicked back and forth, staring up at her with a plea for innocence as she approached, but Samar knew better. There was a reason she managed to keep the cat when her schedule was so hectic; between the magic she used to keep her home in check when she wasn't around, and the cat's sheer level of intelligence that occasionally made her wonder if he wasn't a fellow witch or wizard cursed with spending life trapped in the wrong body, Felix was more or less self-sufficient.    
  
Innocent was rarely a word that could be used to describe him with any degree of truth.   
  
Samar leaned over the armchair, running a single, gentle hand along dark fur until the cat reluctantly stretched out, revealing his prize. There, curled in a ball of its own and nuzzled into Felix's warm, furry belly, was a dragon.    
  
Guaranteed it was a  _ tiny _ dragon –possibly only a few weeks old if Samar recalled her knowledge of magical creatures correctly, but it was a dragon nonetheless. She stared at it in disbelief for a moment; sound asleep, the ball of glimmering, dark scales was small enough that it would probably only fill her two hands cupped together.   
'Felix, where did you find that?' Samar asked, gasping slightly. She glanced over the tiny dragon; for the most part, it seemed unharmed and in fact, quite comfortable curled up there. The temperamental ball of sleek, dark fur simply offered a clipped mew in response.   
  
That was typical.   
  
Samar scooped the dragon up gently in her hands. What it needed exactly, she wasn't sure, but it certainly couldn't stay there in her living room. Heading out the front door again for the second time in what felt like almost as many minutes, Samar cast a wary glance down the street at the house that sat right at the end. It was a little apart from the others, and slightly askew. While the others in the street were neat and orderly  _ –mostly, _ in her case- the house at the end was all over the place. Sometimes brightly coloured sparks and flames seemed to emit from it at odd hours, and other times Samar could swear she had heard any combination of explosions and screeching creatures.   
  
Rumour had it, the wizard who lived there was an eccentric one, and among other things; worked with dragons.    
  
If nothing else, it was worth a shot.   
  
The tiny dragon sat comfortably in her arms as she hurried down the street, not at all fazed by the development. If anything, he poked his head up over her elbow, his bright green eyes staring ahead with an eager anticipation as if he knew exactly where he was going. Samar rapped on the door once, twice, in quick succession. A clattering sounded from inside, followed by a yelp, the inhabitant clearly startled enough by her sudden presence to jump. The door pried slowly open, and a curious face peered around its edge. Samar raised a wry eyebrow; the curious face was framed by thick, black hair that seemed to stand on end and point in a dozen different directions, and as the door opened further still, the face was followed by a tall, gangly body that shuffled awkwardly on the spot.    
  
'Hi-' the exasperation couldn't help but creep into her tone from the moment Samar opened her mouth, but she could barely get past the first word before the man spotted what was in her arms, and his eyes went wide.   
_ '-Norbert,' _ he gasped. The man practically bounced forwards on the balls of his feet, scooping the tiny dragon into his own hands. Samar's raised eyebrow only climbed higher still.    
'Norbert?' She asked drily.    
'My dragon,' the wizard quickly replied, though his gaze remained focused on the dragon in question. Well, that at least answered that question. 'I've been looking for him all afternoon. Where did you find him?'   
'In my living room, with my cat.' The man's dark eyes flickered up to meet hers, instantly widening in concern, while Samar resisted the urge to roll her own at his apparent and complete disregard for the fact that he had let  _ a dragon loose in her home, for Merlin's sake.  _   
  
Maybe the rumours were true. Maybe he really was crazy.   
  
'With your-' he gaped for a second in sheer disbelief '-did you say a  _ cat? _ Oh no, he's only four months old, he can't stand up to a cat yet,' He dropped his gaze back to Norbert, checking him all over for any sign of injury. 'Are you hurt, little guy?'   
'He seemed fine to me,' Samar sighed. 'They were both asleep on my armchair.' Apparently satisfied that Norbert wasn't hurt, the wild-haired wizard lifted him to his shoulder. The tiny dragon leapt up easily, sitting up on his haunches quite comfortably and nuzzling his scaly snout into his keeper's neck.    
'Thanks.' He offered a small smile, absentmindedly reaching up to gently scratch the dragon's head. 'For, uh, bringing him back.' A pained but polite smile strained Samar's cheeks.   
'No problem,' she flatly replied.   
  
She turned, all too ready to head back down the street home and collapse back into her couch. It had been a long day, and with the dragon safely returned –or more importantly, no longer in her living room- there was no reason to stay. She needed sleep, and maybe a shower, not the rambling nonsense of an eccentric not-quite-neighbour.   
  
'Do you, uh, want to come in?' The soft but friendly question stopped Samar mid-turn and it took everything she had not to let out an even more frustrated sigh.   
'Sure.'   
  
The eccentric wizard pulled the door back, and she followed him inside, quietly studying the room around her. It was messy –that much was  _ quite _ clear- but though there were gadgets and whizz bangs just about everywhere the eye could see, nest boxes in the corners, and a workbench piled high with elaborate, half-built creations and technical parts, the more Samar looked around, the more she could see there was a certain order to the chaos. She eyed the pages and pages of schematics scattered across the bench and even pinned to the wall, raising a curious eyebrow.   
  
'You're an inventor, right?' She asked slowly. Still her gaze panned around the space, quietly and calculatingly observing every last detail of her surroundings out of sheer habit. At closer inspection, she even recognised some of the designs; items that weren't as far fetched as one would expect from the street's resident oddball but rather, more practical things that were found in more homes than not.    
  
Some, even in her own.   
  
Samar turned, cautious not to let her curious eyebrow rise any higher as she noted the overflowing file marked 'patents' on the shelf.   
  
The rest of their neighbours had no idea. Every day they took countless gadgets of convenience, from self-stirring cauldrons to cloak dewrinklers to broomstick tail straighteners, for granted without realising that the wizard responsible for their very existence was the very same one who lived in the humble home at the end of the street and that they poked fun at on an almost daily basis.    
  
All of a sudden, all of her earlier skepticism of him sank with a heavy guilt in her gut.   
  
...Not that it excused him being so careless as to let  _ an actual baby dragon loose in her living room, _ but maybe it gave him  _ some _ leeway.    
  
Samar landed her gaze on the wizard in question. He stood somewhat awkwardly, though his shoulders sat low and relaxed, and his arms hung openly down by his sides. He batted not a single eyebrow at the small, shimmering black dragon hovering now just off his shoulder and daring to climb up his ear and onto the top of his head. He shuffled from foot to foot where he stood, and Samar filed that away in the back of her mind. Observation, of everything from her surroundings to body language was one of the main tools of survival in her line of work, and she could read the man in front of her like an open spellbook; he was nervous, though not because he felt threatened, but because he was shy despite wanting to be friendly.   
  
In all honesty, considering how often the others in the street poked fun at him, he probably didn't get many visitors.   
  
'Yeah.' The wizard gave a lopsided grin and bobbed his head with enthusiasm. 'And I look after rescues.' He gestured lackadaisically to Norbert now dangling from his earlobe like a bat. 'Dragons, mostly, but sometimes other creatures too, when they've been abandoned either too young, or injured to survive on their own.' Almost as if on cue, another dragon padded softly into the room. It was a stark contrast to Norbert who, though tiny, seemed to move at a constant lightning pace around their keeper's shoulders. The second dragon, on the other hand, was perhaps the size of a small armchair, a soft shade of purple, and moved slowly, gently, almost happy-go-lucky towards the nestbox. 'That's Jasper,' the wizard added, still grinning as he gestured to the critter in question. 'He came to me about the same time Norbert did so now they're like brothers. I help care for them until they're able to go back to the wild or be adopted by a more permanent home.' His ear to ear grin turned sheepish. 'They, uh, don't normally escape... What do you do?'   
  
Samar paused for a moment, and not just because his seemingly breathless rambling had momentarily distracted her from the fact he had asked a question.    
  
'I'm a bounty hunter,' she warily replied.   
  
The wizard's eyes widened, not in fear or discomfort as Samar had expected, but in awe.    
  
'I guess that explains the burn,' he mused. One hand waved softly to gesture at the singe mark on her arm,  a hint of concern flashing across his face.   
  
Almost instinctively, Samar turned her arm away and pulled it in closer to her side, shielding the burn from view.   
  
'It's only minor.'   
'Do you get burned a lot?' Samar raised an eyebrow.   
'You ask a lot of questions,' she observed. The wild-haired wizard faltered, the concern on his face vanishing as his gaze dropped to the floorboards.   
  
'Sorry.' He turned, darting across the room and rummaging through the cupboard beside the workbench, pulling out a thick wad of fabric. Velvety on one side but shiny on the other, the folds of the fabric seemed to cascade from his hands, unravelling as he pushed it eagerly towards her. 'You should try this.' Samar gazed curiously at the pile of fabric, brow furrowing in confusion as the unravelling shape revealed the sleeves of a cloak with the shiny side of the fabric on the inside. 'The fabric repels most burning agents.' The wizard explained. 'I invented it when I first started looking after dragons-' he glanced at Norbert on his shoulder, scratching the tiny dragon's chin and rolling his eyes in mock exasperation '-you know, the little ones can't always control their flames properly, but I found it works for most other things too.'   
  
'You have a cloak that repels curses?' For a moment, Samar honestly wasn't sure she believed it.   
'Well, some curses.' He gave a good natured-shrug of his shoulders, Norbert bobbing along happily with the movement. 'I'm an inventor. I invent stuff.'   
  
'Thanks,' Samar murmured. She turned the fabric over and over in her hands, almost stunned. A fire-repelling fabric was almost unheard of, and would be invaluable in her line of work where curses barely seemed to ever stop flying. She lifted her gaze again, her dark eyes meeting his with a level of earnestness she rarely had the chance to show. 'I'm Samar, by the way.'   
  
'Huh...' The wild haired wizard tilted his head in thought, breaking into a grin. 'We forgot that part, didn't we?' His eyes crinkled. 'I'm Aram.'   
  
'Well, I guess it's nice to meet you... Aram.' A wry smile tugged at Samar's lips. For all the pretence and forced politeness when he had first invited her in, now the smile was a genuine one.    
  
If nothing else, he was... Interesting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback is writer fuel, my lovelies! Please don't forget to comment if you love it :)


	2. Chapter 2

All of four days went by. Again, it was late by the time Samar returned home from work, with the stars glinting against a pitch black sky. The velvet-y, fireproof cloak slid easily back off her arms as she slipped through the front door, and then floated in the air behind her, slowly lifting itself up to the hook on the wall. Four days with Aram's fireproof cloak, and not once had she been burned whilst wearing it no matter how many curses had been flung in her direction. It was easily the longest she had ever gone since the start of her bounty hunting career without earning herself even so much as a scald. 

That hadn't escaped her attention either. It was a note she had filed away in the back of her mind; to stop by Aram's place again to take him some chocolate or something as a thank you, but every day she had returned home later than the last –well past the time where it would have been acceptable to knock on his door unannounced.  

Samar rounded the corner into the living room, only for a loud mew and a shrill, squeaking attempt at a roar to suddenly echo in her ears. She stopped, glancing around the room, until her gaze landed on the culprits. 

Felix, of course, and Norbert. 

Again.

This time, instead of snoozing together on the armchair, they appeared to be playing some kind of chasing game around the couch, with the tiny dragon fluttering around just higher than the end of Felix's tail, teasingly out of reach. Samar stood there, arms folded and lips curling into an amused smirk as she watched them scamper around the room until they paused, turning –on paws and in the air, respectively- finally realising she was there. Felix sat back on his haunches, tilting his head thoughtfully in his usual failed attempt at innocence. Norbert fluttered to a stop, nestled all too happily between the two twitching, furry ears, and mimicking the very same expression.  

'Ok, buddy,' Samar began with a wry smile. For all their racing around, and for all her initial annoyance at the dragon's uninvited appearance, there didn't seem to be any damage done to her home or even to Felix. They were happy, Felix had some company while she worked her long days, and Aram apparently didn't seem to mind either. Perhaps it wasn't such a bad thing after all. Samar reached forwards to scoop Norbert up into her hands, but the tiny dragon shot upwards, hovering above her head and letting out a mischievous cackle. She raised a wry eyebrow; clearly, this was all still a game. 'How do you even keep getting in here, anyway?' She asked. Glimmering, dark scales spun around in the air with glee in response to the question, before the higher set of twinkling, green eyes glanced down, meeting the one still on all paws. The exchange between them was wordless, but not at all hard to decipher; it took all of a moment, before each creature tilted their heads in agreement, and Felix darted forwards, Norbert zooming along closely behind. Samar let out a sigh of amused exasperation. As tired as she was from chasing dark witches and wizards all day, the curiosity to know what her cat and his new-found dragon friend were up to screamed ever louder. She turned on her heels, following them both through the house –and only twice having to duck so as not to be accidentally swooped by the overexcited reptile- until they came to the door that led out to the back garden. 

The door, that had a flap at the bottom so that Felix could go outside as he pleased. 

The dark-furred feline stopped for a moment at the door, eyes gleaming up at her, before pushing his way easily through the cat flap. 

And all of a second later, making use of the cat door's momentum, Nobert followed suit.  

Samar raised a single, wry eyebrow. Well, at least that made sense. Assuming Norbert had an easy way of getting out of Aram's house as well, Felix's cat door made it all too simple for the young dragon to invite himself over for a playdate whenever he wanted to.  

Another moment later again, and both creatures shot straight back through the cat door towards her, as if just to prove their point. But this time... Samar was ready. She waited, hands poised just three feet above the door. Norbert zoomed through right on Felix's tail and then immediately began to spiral upwards, still squeak-cackling with glee until Samar's hands gently clasped together around him mid-squeak.  

'Sorry, buddy,' she chuckled, offering a rueful smile as the tiny dragon seemed to deflate right then and there in her hands. His scaly bottom lip popped out and Norbert let out a small huff, but the mischievous twinkle in his bright green eyes betrayed any real attempt to look annoyed by his capture. As fun as it was to have him around, Norbert was only little and it was time for him to go him. Shooting a quick grin at Felix idling around by her feet, Samar bundled the tiny dragon up in her arms, and headed out the front door. 

Again. 

Samar knocked on the door gentler this time, lip quirked up with a hint of a smirk. Norbert rested his head over her folded arms, gazing quite comfortably ahead, both of them ignoring the golden sparks shooting intermittently from the roof. The door swung only half-open just as it had the first time around, with Aram's mess of dark hair poking warily around the edge, and smudges of ash –or  _ something- _ splattered down one side of his face.  

'Looking for this little guy again, by any chance?' Samar mused.    
'How the-' Aram gaped as his gaze dropped to the tiny dragon nestled into the crook of her elbow, seemingly lost for words. 'I'm so sorry.' The front door swung open and Aram straightened, shaking his head and running one hand through his already fluffed-up hair until it seemed to stand in dragon-like spikes of his own. 'He's a wily one, I didn't even notice he was gone.' Samar raised an eyebrow. Just beyond Aram, it looked like some kind of small explosion had gone off in his living room, with the contents of his workbench apparently having tripled and then scattered, well,  _ everywhere. _ Only Jasper, sitting back on his haunches and unflappable as ever in the centre of the room with his head tilted curiously sideways and a spanner held between his teeth, resembled anything even vaguely calm in the room. Soft lilac scales glittered under the edges of the bench's dusky lighting, and Samar could have sworn that the young dragon had grown noticeably by several inches in just the few days since she had seen him last.  

Long story short; between whatever Aram –and apparently Jasper- was working on, and Norbert's propensity for sneakiness, it was no wonder the smaller dragon had escaped unnoticed.  

'Well, he's fine,' Samar observed, her tone far softer than her wry smile would have implied. The tiny dragon lifted his head for a moment, before giving _ just _ enough of a lazy flutter of his wings to hover over Aram's shoulder, halfway cross the living room, and then settle into an even tinier, sleepy ball atop his brother's head. 'But I'd hazard a guess that he's been chasing Felix around for a while because he's exhausted now,' Samar added. She grinned, gesturing inside at the pair; Jasper still sitting there as unfazed as ever with the spanner still dangling from his teeth, and Norbert already breathing heavily with deep slumber. Aram swivelled on the spot, glancing back at them for a moment with his eyes widening in surprise.    
'That doesn't happen often,' he observed.  

Samar let out another soft smirk; somehow, that didn't surprise her either.  

'Anyway,' she spoke again, 'now that Norbert's home again-' she gestured, somewhat awkwardly, to the chaos circling Jasper inside '-I should probably leave you to it.' Samar bit her lip; she couldn't deny the inkling of curiosity to know what he was working on, or even to simply get to know the eccentric wizard and his pair of surprisingly adorable dragons better. There were layers to him that she had never expected, and had since then only seen their surface. For all the rumours amongst the neighbours about the crazy inventor at the end of the street whose home liked to sparkle and glimmer at all kinds of odd hours, Aram really wasn't crazy at all. Creative, yes, kind of nerdy and definitely  _ awkward, _ sure, but he was also kind, friendly, and apparently a certifiable genius. But it was late, he was busy, she needed sleep after what felt like the umpteenth long day at work, and quite frankly...  _ How could she just invite herself in?  _

'Oh, uh,' Aram sputtered in response.  _ Merlin's beard, he didn't want her to leave. _ Most people never gave him the time of day, let alone laughed with him and found his dragons' antics endearing. And that smile of hers, and those  _ eyes. _ There was a warmth to them that could easily be fire to the wrong person, but that to him seemed to brim with a playfulness that went hand in hand with her wry smile and sharp wit. And for all the dark rings of tiredness that sat heavy under them now after what was probably another long day, those dark eyes of hers still crinkled happily. 'You don't have to...' Aram trailed off. The words seemed to stick in his throat and he had no idea what to say. He wants so badly for her to stay for a little while longer, but it was late, she was clearly exhausted, and she probably didn't want to walk straight into the mess all over his house after he'd accidentally blown up his latest project, no matter the fact that he could tidy it up with a single flick of his wand if he really wanted to.  

Samar hovered there in the doorway, the reluctance of being torn between staying and going all too clear in the tension pulling at her shoulders. She offered him a small smile and the tiniest hint of a wave, before bowing her head. 

'Good night Aram,' she said softly. The smile widened slightly. 'And-' she gestured good-naturedly at the chaos inside again '-try not to accidentally blow yourself up.' Aram could only laugh in response as she turned and walked away. He watched on as her figure grew smaller and smaller as it disappeared down the street, fading into darkness.   
'I will,' he murmured.  

/*/*/*/* 

Another two days passed, and yet again Samar returned home to flash of dark scales whizzing around her living room after an equally fast flash of equally dark fur. Without even pausing to slip off her fireproof cloak, she stood in the entrance to the room, hands on hips and smirk of exasperated amusement tugging at her lips until both creatures came to a slow stop, tilting their heads in perfectly synchronised greeting. It was almost impossible to stop the laugh from creeping into her voice as she simply mused;  

'Again, Norbert, really?' 

A short chase later and the tiny dragon was safely ensconced in her hands yet  _ again, _ and Samar made the now all too familiar –but thankfully  _ short- _ walk down the street to the house at the end that this time, seemed to have lime green smoke wisping from the chimney and a bright shade of blue glowing from the windows.  

She knocked on the door, and this time it opened fully without pause. Aram peered out, flashing her an enthusiastic smile before his gaze dropped to the dragon nestled in her arms with rapidly drooping eyes. The eccentric wizard faltered, turning on the spot to glance over his shoulder and then back again, lost for words.  

'Again, Norbert, _ really?' _   He sighed. Aram looked up, meeting Samar's gaze again as she let out a laugh at the sheer level of exasperation in the words that she had only just said two minutes earlier. He waved his arm in a wild gesture inside; 'I swear he was  _ just _ there.' The flash of dark scales rose from Samar's hands and zoomed inside, straight over Aram's head. He lapped the ceiling and swooped the room a few times before finally darting downwards, practically dive bombing poor Jasper trying to clamber up onto the couch. Norbert waited, perched on the back of the couch and watching his brother make himself comfortable before hopping down, gentler this time, and tucking himself into the crook of Jasper's belly. The larger dragon peered down at him for a moment before shaking his lilac head and letting out a snort, but ultimately made no protest. He curled around Norbert, and that was that.  

Aram simply rolled his eyes, and let out a sheepish smile. He paused for a moment, studying that gaze of hers that seemed to be studying his right back.  

'I don't suppose you want to come in for some tea or something, do you?' He asked quietly. Samar's eyes crinkled back at him, their gleam of affectionate mischief not unlike that of Norbert himself, as she murmured back;   
'Sure.' 


	3. Chapter 3

Samar had been bounty hunting for years, taking down darker and darker foes as time went on and steadily making a name for herself in the wizarding underworld as someone not to be messed with. She wasn't merciless –far from it in some cases, in fact- but there were some crimes she would never forgive. She had no family; her parents and brother having died long ago at the hands of another dark wizard. It was the need for justice for her family that _drove_ Samar in her work, but not in her life. Off the clock, her wit shone even brighter than her beauty. She was smart too, easily holding her own in back and forth banter on Aram's couch, or even in discussions of spellcraft, potions, and wizarding history.

She even perfected Aram's cauldron-cleaning solution by reducing the amount of seawater by a sixth and adding two springs of daffodil root and half a vial of mermaid tears.  

Aram was stunned. How she had figured that out so perfectly and managed to state it so matter of factly as if it came straight off the top of her head, he had no idea.  

And trying to figure _that_ out was almost as impossible as trying to figure out what on earth would come out of her mouth next.  

He, meanwhile, was the best and brightest inventor that nobody had ever heard of. Ever awkward and goofy, but earnest any time it counted, he was the sort of person one felt instantly at ease with. There was no end to the fascination Samar found anywhere she turned in his living room.  

And then there were the dragons. The same age, and having come to Aram around the same time, Norbert and Jasper really were like brothers, despite being the types of dragons that couldn’t possibly be more different. Norbert learned at the speed of light, but grew with the pace of a snail, while Jasper was polar opposite –meaning that despite having been around the same size when they had first been placed in Aram's care, Jasper was now ten times Norbert's size. Norbert couldn't stop himself from making mischief, to the point that his species of dragon was known more than anything else for being a pest to gardeners and farmers alike, while Jasper seemed to live for being helpful and found no end of joy in passing tools back and forth while Aram worked busily at his inventions. And yet, the two dragons were as close as ever, and Samar only had to watch them together for five minutes to see that.  

Spending time with them after work, even if it was as casual as chatting to Aram from his couch while he stared through the fireproof goggles that were almost as big as his head at whatever he was working on, were some of the most enjoyable evenings Samar had passed in some time. Norbert, who had taken a particular liking to her, perched himself on her shoulder, Jasper chased and snapped playfully at the hem of her fireproof cloak trailing along the floor as it hung itself up on the coat hook against his wishes to take it for her, and Aram could only marvel at the way she ignored the brightly coloured sparks standing his hair up on end and instead offered suggestions and additions as if everything happening around her was as absolutely normal as ever.  

The budding friendship grew easily. Almost _too_ easily, in fact. Just thinking about waiting for the work day to be over so that she could see all of them again was precisely the sort of distraction Samar did _not_ need, but ended up with anyway.  

Which in turn, was precisely how her latest assignment, in his failed attempt to escape her clutches, had managed to set off a thick cloud of bright red smoke in her face before she disarmed him. The smoke set her head spinning and filled her nostrils with the overpowering, oddly mixed scent of overripe bananas and gunpowder, but Samar shook it off, along with any further distracting thoughts of another relaxing evening with two overly excitable dragons and their even more excitable trainer.  

With a flick of her wand, Samar released the grumbling warlock into the hold of the wizarding court marshals who had put the bounty on his head. With a second flick, she collected her fee... And with _that_ out of the way, onwards she went. Samar gripped her broomstick, feet steady and evenly spaced on the ground, ready to kick off from the footsteps of the courthouse and head for somewhere with _far_ more enjoyable company.  

Then her head spun.  

Nausea twinged at her stomach, and a dull ache seemed to settle across her forehead just for a moment. Samar frowned as it passed. Clearly, whatever was in that cloud of red smoke was going to stick with her for a while. She closed her eyes, steadying herself. She opened them again, blinking slowly until the world around her came back into motionless focus. A faint flash of blue glinted in the distance as the streetlights all flickered on around her like clockwork, illuminating the street otherwise cloaked in the charcoal sky of early evening.

Samar blinked again. Still, that faint blue continued to gleam like rays of sunshine caught on a shard of glass. Samar furrowed her brow, allowing her broomstick to instead hang by her side as she crossed the street, heading towards that shimmer in the park. There were few people around, and Samar darted across quickly, ducking around the bench lined garden paths and then the fountain... And there, just past the gentle splashing sounds of bubbling water over marble, was a sight that made Samar clasp a hand over her mouth.

A large patch of garden bed was flattened, the flowering bushes that had once sat there now shredded and scattered over the dirt-dusty ground. In the centre, and glittering in the shadows of the fountain lights, were shards of pastel blue, almost porcelain like and shattered all over the soil... And right amongst the shards, almost too easy to miss if not for the faint squawking sounds of distress, was the tiniest, four legged, two winged ball of wrinkly, blue leather Samar had ever seen.  

'Oh, Merlin.' The quiet words escaped her before she could stop them and Samar crouched down, two fingers outstretched to push aside the shards of eggshell still trapping the tiny hatchling by the tail. The creature laid there, wings struggling and trembling feebly, its mouth opening and closing in the failing attempt to cry out for help. As gently as she could manage, Samar slid her hand under the dragon, lifting it from the crumbled mess of eggshell. It was tiny enough that even her single palm seemed like that of a giant around it... And, it was cold. Too cold. Samar let out a slow, cautious breath, lifting the tiny dragon ever closer until she held it to her chest.  

She panned her gaze around the park. It seemed odd for a single hatchling to be there, alone, but there was no adult dragon in sight.

_Wait a minute..._

Samar shifted her focus back to the shards of eggshell. There seemed far too many to be from just one egg. With her spare hand she dug gently through the pile of scattered shards, searching through them, and a sick feeling settled quickly back in her stomach with a vengeance.  

There, buried under the piles, were two more, equally tiny creatures... Who hadn't quite managed to outlast whatever had stomped on their nest as their sibling had.  

Samar swallowed, processing that. Even she knew that a mother dragon did not return to its nest after an attack, especially if the hatchlings hadn't survived. The tiny baby held against her chest was alone. Abandoned. And not at all likely to survive much longer on its own.  

Samar curled her scarf around and around it, buttoned her cloak up to her neck, and then tucked the small bundle neatly in the gap, holding it safely there. The tiny dragon squirmed for a moment but then settled still, and Samar let out the breath she hadn't even realised she was holding.  

If she was going to get that dragon to safety as fast as possible, she needed both hands to fly.  

/*/*/*/*

Samar's head spun again, and her legs wobbled for a split second as she touched down onto her street a little harder than anticipated, right outside Aram's door, but she ignored that off, woozy feeling that just wouldn't stop coming and going.  

She lurched forwards, knocking hurriedly on Aram's door until he pulled it open, staring out curiously at her frenzy.  

'Hey-' he tried to greet her, breaking into a warm smile, but Samar pushed quickly past him, marching into his living room and barely paying any attention to the space around her.    
'-I have a new patient for you,' she spoke over him. Her heart raced, and she uncoiled the top of her scarf, revealing the tiny ball of blue scales still tucked inside and barely hanging on. Aram's eyes widened and he hurried forwards with both hands outstretched, scooping the creature from her scarf and carting her quickly but gently across the room.    
'Oooh, she's tiny,' he observed. The worry was clear in his voice, and Samar bit her lip. Every last hope on the flight home had been reserved for the possibility of Aram saying that the hatchling wasn't in as much danger as she had feared.    
'She?' Samar asked, raising a curious eyebrow, but Aram didn't respond. Samar watched him as he moved towards what looked like a fish tank at the end of his workbench, but with long, bar-like yellow lights all around the edges, shining in. He lowered the tiny dragon into the incubator, flicking the switch on the side until the lights began to amplify.

'What colour was the egg?' Aram asked, his gaze still focused intently on checking the little dragon over in the tank for injuries. Samar crossed the room towards him.  
'Blue,' she quickly replied.    
'A bright, royal blue, or a light pastel?' There was an urgency about his voice and Samar paused, hesitating.    
'Uh...' She glanced hurriedly around the room, seeking out something similar for exact reference, until her eyes landed on the unlit candles hanging over the other end of the bench -a faint shade of blue, barely darker than white- and she quickly pointed them out. 'Like that.' Aram's gaze followed her gesture, and he let out a soft whistle under his breath.    
'That's not good.'

Now sure that the dragon was uninjured and settled as well as she could be in the incubator, Aram ducked across the room to where it joined with the kitchen at the counter island, pulling dishes and utensils from shelves and all kinds of ingredients from the fridge. He darted back and forth, pouring and mixing things together in a small dish, with an odd air of calmness about his hurry as if it was an urgency he had been through several times before. He was off in his own little world, concentrating with such intensity on doing whatever it was that she didn't recognise, that it was as if for a moment, Aram didn't even see her at all.  

Samar's head spun again as she watched him and her knees threatened to buckle out from under her, but she steadied herself, trying to shake it off.  

'What are you doing?' She asked softly.    
'She needs warmth,' Aram murmured back, almost as if to himself more than her, 'hang on.' He turned in the kitchen, reaching for another small dish, filling it with water, ferrying it across to the incubator tank, and then rushing back again for his mysterious concoction. 'Ok... Incubator, water... Nutrients-' the palm sized dish full of swirling, dark purple, milk-like mush lowered gently into the tank beside the water '-there you go, little one.'  
'Aram?' Samar prompted again. Her brow furrowed with concern. She shuffled uneasily on the spot, feeling helpless just standing there, awkwardly watching him rushing around, despite knowing that there was nothing much she could really do. This was Aram's area of expertise, and as much as Samar hated standing around doing nothing when she was used to always doing _something,_ she knew she had stand back and let him do his thing.  

Aram stared into the tank, his shoulder tensed with anxiety. The tiny, blue dragon trembled within but slowly clawed her way forward nonetheless, her snout extended ever so slightly to eagerly sniff the purple concoction.  

Aram leaned back, pulling up a stool beside the bench to sit on instead.  

'She's a Blue Spiketail,' he softly began to explain. His gaze tore slowly from the incubator in front of him, and he met Samar's eyes. 'Their eggs are white when first laid, and they grow brighter as they incubate, until they're finally ready to hatch. By that point, they're a vibrant blue.' Aram bit his lip, pausing for a moment. 'If her egg was still pale, then it was way too early for her to hatch, and without her mother around... It's a miracle she survived long enough for you to get her here.' Samar closed the gap between them, pulling up another stool beside him to watch the tank too.    
'Will she be ok?' She asked quietly.    
'We'll have to wait and see now.' Aram tilted his head in cautious contemplation. 'With warmth, and if she can put some weight on... Hopefully.'    
'What are you feeding her?' The tiny ball of blue scales reached the edge of the dish, and her even tinier, pink tongue flickered out, reaching over the edge of the dish and taking the first few wavering licks.    
'Well, she's too small to be able to eat and digest real meat. In the wild if they hatch too young, they struggle through worms and grubs. It's not ideal, but it's the best they can do until either they don't survive any longer or they manage to grow enough to eat real food.' Aram paused as his newest charge paused too, watching and waiting for her to keep working at her meal before continuing to speak. 'This is a mix of bone marrow, egg, a whole pile of vitamin and protein supplements... And to try and add some flavour and entice her to actually eat it-' he offered Samar a small, hopeful smile '-some mushy blueberries.'

Slowly but surely, the littlest hatchling sipped at her dinner, and Samar and Aram watched on.  

Even Norbert fluttered over –from _where_ exactly, Samar had no idea after being so focused on the task at hand- and perched himself on the top edge of the incubator, staring in. His head of jet black scales tilted sideways in curiosity, and his usual over-energetic, constant quiver of excitement fell statue still.

He had never seen a dragon smaller than himself before, let alone _that_ small.

Jasper's lilac scales appeared in Samar's peripheral vision, with the larger dragon padding softly towards them until his chin rested on the edge of the workbench, his snout _just_ nosing against the edge of the incubator's glass walls. Both were quiet, their normally happy airs replaced by something more concerned, almost protective of the newest addition to their tight-knit clan.

A weight landed softly on Samar's lap and she jumped, doing a double take at the ball of dark, feline fur suddenly sitting back on its haunches and staring into the tank with the rest of them.  

'How did _you_ get here?' She gasped. Her eyes widened with surprise, but she let out a disbelieving laugh all the same, and Aram broke into a grin.    
'I thought he might be Felix,' he chuckled softly back. 'He’s been here running around with Norbert since about midday. I, uh, wasn't sure which house was yours, but I figured you'd come for him eventually.' On the edge of the tank, Norbert let out an anxious whine. Felix's ears twitched in response, and a quiet mew of his own escaped his throat. 'They're inseparable, huh?'  
'Apparently.' Samar's hand came to rest atop Felix's head and she scratched gently between his ears –not that it stopped him, or any of them, from watching the tank in front of them.

She had been so focused on the hatchling wrapped in her scarf when she had arrived, that she hadn't paid even the slightest shred of attention to anything else happening in the room around her, let alone the antics of her cat and his two dragon friends... But there they were. It was as if time stood still around them. In the backs of all their minds, they all knew that sitting there, watching, did nothing to help but at the same time, it felt all too wrong to leave the tiny dragon there and carry on as normal, like nothing was wrong.  

And so they sat there, staring, watching, waiting. The tiny dragon pulled back from her food dish, her tiny head hanging heavy for a moment, before flopping down beside the dish, too exhausted to move to rest elsewhere.  

Aram's brow remained furrowed in concern, but the tension in his shoulders slowly began to ease as their tiny charge's dark, glittering eyes fell softly closed. Samar's hand reached out to Aram's beside her. Her fingertips rested gently atop his and curled around them, almost without even thinking about it. He turned his head in surprise at her touch, a shy smile tugging at his lips that widened as Samar smiled softly back.

The room around her began to spin again, and the nausea lurched suddenly in her gut.  

Samar wobbled on her stool.  

Aram's arm shot out, winding around her back to catch her before she fell, but Samar barely even noticed... And everything went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mwahahahaha cliffhanger alert!
> 
> *laughs evily, then runs away to hide under chair before anyone comes running with a pitchfork*


	4. Chapter 4

The first thing Samar noticed was a weight square on her chest. It sat there, soft, warm, and familiar even though she couldn't quite place what it was. She felt like her head was wrapped in cotton wool. Fluttering sounds began to echo in her ears as she came to, muffled and distant at first and then clearing only a little. Samar's already closed eyes squeezed tightly shut and she groaned softly under her breath, one arm reaching for the weight on her chest. Fingertips landed on silky fur that seemed to rumble somewhere deep underneath upon her touch... 

_ Felix.  _

_ That's why the sensation was so familiar.  _

Samar's eyes flickered slowly open, gazing bleary-eyed at the fuzzy, dark lump curled up on top of her. The world around it came slowly back into view and Felix's ears twitched, his gleaming green eyes staring back at her intently as if he had been there, waiting for her to wake up the entire time. 

_ Hang on a minute... _

The room appearing around her wasn't unfamiliar, but it wasn't her own home. Samar groaned again. Her stomach lurched and everything just felt  _ so _ groggy.  

_ Why in the name of Merlin was she in Aram's living room, lying on his couch? _

'Hey,' came Aram's voice, 'welcome back.' Samar's blurry gaze snapped to his in an instant, only just making out the way his brow furrowed with concern just as intense as Felix's. He stood at the edge of the couch, shuffling awkwardly on the spot with his hands wringing anxiously as he watched her.    
'Hey-' Samar tried to mumble back, offering a dazed half-smile, but the fluttering sound suddenly swooped skin-touch close and the ball of jet black scales it belonged to suddenly landed on her shoulder '-oh,  _ Norbert-' _ she pushed him gently back with two fingers as his wings accidentally flapped against her face, before turning her attention back to Aram. 'Why am I on your couch?' 

Aram winced.  

'You passed out,' he softly began to explain, 'if it wasn't for the fact that I know we're the only ones here, I'd have thought someone dosed you with blindside potion.' Samar frowned, her still half-dozing brain processing the information slower than usual. Slowly but surely she pushed herself to sitting up. Felix leapt off her in an instant at the movement but circled back just as quickly, sitting up on his haunches beside her and leaning into her side as if torn between guarding her and helping her up.  

Just like that, the memories came flashing back like a switch suddenly being flipped in her brain; the grumbling warlock, the flash of blue in the park across the street from the courthouse, and the woozy feeling that had hounded her all the way to Aram's after that.  

'My head was spinning most of the way here,' Samar groaned, pushing the hair slowly back off her face. 'My last bounty hit me with a weird cloud of red smoke and I don't think it sat well with me.' Aram's brow knitted together further still.    
'Red smoke?'   
'Yeah, it came out of a metal ball in his hand.' Spotting the daylight streaming in from the window across the room in her peripheral vision, she shifted her gaze to the clock on the wall just past him, for a split second almost missing the way he quickly swore under his breath.  _ Huh.  _ She had been out cold all night. Aram muttered to himself again, and Samar glanced back at him, raising a single, curious eyebrow. 'What?'   
'Potion grenades. Not every magical inventor likes to make themselves useful.' He let out a sigh, shaking his head and clearly irked by the notion. 'Some like to do experiments like gasifying potions so they can be aimed at people like spells and curses.' Samar raised a single, disbelieving eyebrow.   
'You're telling me there's an evil version of you out there somewhere who likes gassing people with blindside potions?' She asked, incredulity creeping into her tone.    
'Apparently.' Shaking her head, Samar pushed herself to her feet, only to jump as she narrowly missed stepping on Jasper curled up in the floor alongside the couch, staring up at her. She stepped sideways in the attempt to swerve  and regain her balance but her head spun again and she overcorrected. Aram's arm whipped out faster than hers could, catching her gently by the wrist until she steadied. 'Careful,' he said softly, 'you're probably going to feel out of sorts for another day or so.' 

The fluttering of Norbert's wings whooshed past her again, and the mischievous dragon perched on her other shoulder, nuzzling her cheek. Behind her, Felix let out a low mew of warning –agreeing wholeheartedly with Aram's assessment of the situation- and Jasper quickly padded out from the danger zone around her legs to the safety of a few feet further away.  

'Remind me to find the evil you and curse his ass,' Samar dryly replied, breaking into a scowl. For all the concern and the irritation furrowing his brow, the tiniest hint of a wry smile tugged at Aram's lips in response.    
'Not for another day or so,' he said softly, 'at least.' Samar's scowl turned into a grimace. As much as she hated feeling so helplessly out of sorts, Aram had a point. He stood back, seemingly watching her for a moment until he was sure she was steady before finally giving a contemplative nod. The room spun again but only for a moment. A blink or two later and Samar let out a slow, deep breath, the blurriness in her vision passing just as quickly as it had arrived.  

She glanced –albeit slowly, lest the movement take a hold of her vision again- around the space. It wasn't just Aram watching her with worry strewn all across his face. Felix, Norbert and Jasper each held their stations at their various points around the room, eyeing her with heads tilted in perfectly synchronised anxiety of their own.  

'Between you passing out and the little one in the incubator-' Aram let out a wary chuckle as he gestured first to the shimmering blue hatchling on the bench behind him, and then to the collective of his fellow wary gazes '-these guys nearly had a nervous breakdown.' Samar let out a soft smile, shifting her own gaze to the incubator tank.    
'How is she?' Aram tilted his head uneasily, weighing it up.    
'Holding on. She's got a healthy appetite, which is a good sign. She's finished her dinner and she's working on breakfast, though she still can't quite stop shivering, and-' 

Samar held up a single, gentle hand, prompting Aram to actually draw breath rather than continue the long-winded version of events. 

As important the level of detail was –and as endearing as his eagerness for it was as well- her still foggy brain wasn't quite up to anything more complicated than a simple 'good' or 'bad.' 

_ 'She _ needs a name,' Samar interjected softly. Her small, wry smile widened slightly. Her dark eyes, though still bleary, crinkled with affection as Aram bowed his head with a sheepish grin in response.  

'She does,' he agreed. He nodded, his enthusiasm for both the idea and the fact she had even cared to suggest it, equally clear. But the grin on his face couldn't last; the room began to spin and knees began to buckle, and Samar wobbled on her feet until he steadied her again. 'But maybe you could think about that while sitting back down?' The fleeting grin vanished, concern returning to Aram's face in an instant and quickly intensifying. 'Please?' Firm but gentle all at once, his arm around her guided her back to the couch again.   
'I'm fine,' Samar quietly tried to protest, but sat down as instructed all the same.  

_ Why couldn't the room just stop spinning already? _

Samar grasped at the edge of the couch, opening and closing her eyes tight shut over and over again in the bid to regain her vision. Felix's nose nudged at her cheek and Norbert's wings fluttered rapidly past her head. Aram's voice blurred in her ear, growing more and more distant even as the alarm grew with each iteration of her name.  

And then it all went silent. 

/*/*/*/* 

Samar's eyes flickered open for the second time in as many hours and she let out a groan. 

'Whoa,' Aram's voice echoed in her ears as she tried to push herself up, 'careful.' The view of the room around Samar cleared again and Aram's face came into clearer view, barely inches from hers, biting his lip. She let out a sigh, her shoulders slumping with exasperation.    
'I've seen people dosed with blindside potion before and I don't remember it being like this,' she grumbled. With a gentle pull on her arm, Aram helped her sit up again. For a split second the movement set the world spinning again, and Samar grimaced.    
'Yeah...' Aram murmured. 'The effects vary from person to person. You seem to be having a particularly strong reaction.' 

A glass of water pushed its way into one of her hands, and a plate laden with a borderline mountainous looking sandwich appeared in the other. Aram shuffled awkwardly back and forth on the spot, watching her and barely managing to restrain himself from softly pressing the back of his hand to her forehead.  

Samar winced.  

If Aram had been concerned before, now he was in fully-fledged fussing mode. 

'I'll be fine,' she tried to insist. That frown on Aram's face intensified.   
'You probably shouldn't be alone until it passes,' he urged back.  

Samar sighed. Not that she wanted to admit it, Aram did have a point. Even if for no other reason than the fact that she kept passing out and she was lucky that she hadn't yet hit her head on something on the way down, being alone was going to make the wait for the potion's effects to pass a hundred times more exhausting. Not to mention; she had  _ far _ too little energy to really argue with him. Later they would have to wander slowly back up the street just to collect a few of her things but ultimately Aram was right; she shouldn't be alone.  

She took a sip of water, glancing down at the plate in her other hand. The sandwich he had whipped up for her really did look quite impressive,  _ and _ –Samar pulled a face as her stomach instantly began to rumble hungrily- with all the room-spinning and stomach-lurching, and losing-of-consciousness, she hadn't eaten in a while.  

Actually, with the warlock mess the day before, followed by the hatchling rescuing and then passing out a few times, she hadn't eaten since her pre-warlock lunch. 

Which, as Samar snuck another glance at the clock on the wall, was now almost a full twenty-four hours earlier. 

_ Huh. _

Maybe Aram really did have the right idea. 

_ Not _ that she was in any way going to admit that.  _ Ever.  _

She was far too used to her own independence for that. Samar would much rather less than subtly change the subject.  

Samar shifted her attention back to Aram, now bustling back and forth around the house again with Jasper plodding along at his heels, lost deep in his own thoughts that kept his brow knitted tightly in concentration... But what she hadn't noticed in her initial bleary-eyed waking state was the elaborate set up of straps around a central compartment held against his chest. Clearly another of his curious inventions, it wasn't unlike the sort of contraption that others tended to use to carry babies strapped to their chests or back, but in Aram's case the central compartment was smaller, and shaped far more appropriately for the comfort of wings and tails that more  _ human  _ babies did not possess.  

A faint hint of sparkling blue peeked out from the edge of the carrier, and Samar broke into a soft smile, catching Aram's eye again as he shuffled past.  

'She still shivering?' Samar asked, tilting her head in gesture to the tiny hatchling snuggling into him. Aram pulled a face.   
'I think she has a fever,' he replied, biting his lip. 'However long she was left alone in the park before you found her probably didn't help. I thought maybe some body to body contact might do her some good.' 

Setting the plateful of sandwich back on the side table next to her end of the couch, Samar reached out to Aram's dragon-holding contraption instead.  

'Let me hold her,' she offered quickly, breaking into a wistful smile. 'If I have to stay on your couch for hours on end so I don't fall over, holding her is one helpful thing I can still do.' A wave of sympathy came crashing across Aram's face. He hurriedly unbuckled his shoulder straps, ever so carefully reaching into the centre compartment to grasp the bright blue hatchling with both hands. Samar took her from him just as cautiously, trying not to wince at the tiny creature's intermittent shivering as she pulled her gently to her chest. Little more than shimmering, scaly skin on the most fragile of bones, the hatchling curled her tail around her nose in an instant, pushing her head square into Samar's chest in the desperate bid for warmth, almost disappearing under the coils of her scarf entirely.  

Aram watched on for a moment, still shuffling awkwardly as if not quite sure whether to stay or leave her to it. He broke into a sheepish smile, bowing his head as Samar caught his eye again, and shuffled back to his other task at hand with Jasper still following close behind. A crackling noise sounded from behind her and Samar turned her attention back over her shoulder, eyeing the cauldron on Aram's other workbench that was just starting to bubble. 

'What are you doing?' She asked curiously.    
'Trying to create an antidote for blindside potion for you,' Aram murmured back, eyes firmly focused on the swirling concoction in front of him. 'The colour's back in your face, but I wanted to help you actually  _ feel _ better.' Samar raised an eyebrow.    
'Even I know that nobody has been able to figure out an antidote for blindside potion before,' she observed, 'I just have to ride it out.' 

Out of nowhere, Norbert swooped across the room and over her head, landing with a gentle thud on the couch armrest beside her. He leaned in just for long enough to softly –and in stark contrast to his usual high-energy antics- nuzzle the tiny baby buried in her scarf, before shifting the attention of his gleaming eyes back to Samar.  

Samar glanced back at him, meeting the mischievous dragons gaze. Those green eyes of his flashed with mischief and he swivelled back and forth on the spot, glancing at her lunch, then back to her, then back each way again. Norbert's tiny snout lifted in the air, giving a particularly pointed sniff.  

Samar broke into a wry smile as Norbert's gaze turned back to her again, and he shifted on the spot, waggling his tail in eager anticipation. She knew  _ exactly _ what he wanted. Casting a discreet glance in Aram's direction to make sure he wasn't watching, Samar reached over to her sandwich. With the turkey, cheese and salad piled so high that Samar honestly couldn't figure out how it  _ wasn't _ toppling out the sides, it was easy to pull a sliver of turkey from the edge to dangle just shy of Norbert's nose. The mischievous ball of jet black scales crouched, tail falling still and eyes narrowing in concentration as they tracked the dangling prize back and forth, ready to pounce. With a flick of two fingers, Samar tossed the turkey sliver in the air –albeit only a couple of inches given Norbert's small size. The dragon launched from his hind legs, bouncing into the air and catching his prize between his teeth so quickly that anyone who blinked would have missed it. His wings unfurled in perfect synchronisation, sending him into a graceful somersault mid-air as he chomped down on the turkey, before landing deftly back onto the armrest as if he hadn't moved at all.  

Norbert tilted his head, emerald eyes staring right back at her in appreciation, and Samar grinned.  

Somehow, she was fairly certain she _ wasn't _ supposed to be encouraging Aram's problematically mischievous dragon to do tricks for food off her plate, but... It was far too entertaining not to.  

Norbert leaned in again, nudging her hand in want for more, and Samar had to bite her lip to suppress the chuckle.  

Surely, even in her half-dazed state, she was still skilled enough to sneak perhaps another sliver or two, and Aram would be none the wiser...  _ Right? _

'I'm getting there,' Aram continued to murmur over the crackling of cauldron fire, 'I started by trying to reverse engineer the individual ingredients like the antidote for concussion potion-' Samar reached over to her sandwich, plucking another sliver of turkey from the edge as Norbert crouched down again, licking his lips '-you know, because they share a similar base and have similar effects-' Aram tipped a vial of something into his cauldron, sending up a small cloud of fog that made the perfect cover for a shred of turkey being flung in the air on the other side of the room '-but the whole concoction curdled when I added the mint leaves to try and reverse the sour moss-' tiny dragon teeth snapped up the sliver with a gleeful upwards spiral this time, before landing as deftly as ever back onto the armrest '-so then I started again at a lower temperature and with less peach puree, but-' 

Aram paused mid-explanation, and Samar swivelled on her couch cushion again, glancing back at him as innocently as she could muster. Aram waved the last of the fog back out of his and Jasper's faces, eyes narrowing in amused exasperation.  

'-You know I know what you guys are doing, right?' He asked dryly. Samar blinked, faltering only for a split second before tilting her head in musing thought. One hand grasped gently back around the scarf-wrapped hatchling, and the other scratched gently under Norbert's chin.    
'What's wrong with cuddling a baby dragon?' She asked, all too sweetly.  

...Norbert let out a cackle, destroying the ruse in an instant. He lifted back into the air, zooming across the room and landing on Aram's shoulder, nuzzling into his cheek as if he were nothing less than totally angelic.  

Aram simply rolled his eyes in response, but couldn't stop the tiniest of grins from tugging at his lips all the same. Beside him, and with a large mixing spoon dangling from between his teeth, Jasper mimicked the expression. 

But the attempt at feigned annoyance only lasted a moment before a more curious expression crossed Aram's face. A flick of his wand extinguished the cauldron flames behind him and he crossed the room back towards Samar, leaning in curiously to get a better look at the smallest dragon still held close to her. Samar furrowed her brow in confusion, glancing back and forth between Aram and the dragon, trying to figure out what had suddenly caught his attention. 

She was still curled up, but she had twisted around, pointing her snout up as if reaching desperately for her chin.  

'What's wrong?' Samar asked. Aram opened his mouth to respond, but the hatchling cut him off, letting out a soft but no less distinct trilling noise as she continued trying to reach upwards.    
'That noise, combined with her head tilted back, and trying to touch you with her nose,' Aram softly explained, 'that's what baby spiketails do with those they recognise as their parents.' His eyes crinkled with amused affection and he let out a laugh. 'She's imprinting on you.' 

Samar blinked, eyes widening in surprise for a moment. Rescuing an abandoned hatchling had been unexpected enough, let alone said hatchling clinging to her rather than Aram who was far more the expert when it came to actually taking care of her.  

...Maybe it was the grogginess, the exhaustion, and the general business of feeling utterly awful that had put a damper on her quick wit and wry retorts or maybe it wasn't but either way, as unexpected as it was, it was just as impossible not to feel a burst of tenderness for their tiny charge and hold her closer still. Samar broke into a smile, gazing down at the tiny dragon.  

'I guess there are worse things to be than mother of a dragon,' she chuckled. A low, disgruntled mew sounded at that, catching Samar's attention. She turned, rolling her eyes good-naturedly at Felix jumping up to perch on the opposite armrest, eyes gleaming with skepticism. 'Or of a cat,' she dryly added. Felix's tail flicked in the air and he stepped off the armrest onto the cushions, strutting haughtily across them towards her, until he was close enough to brush his furry cheeks and waffly nose against the creature wrapped in her scarf. 

The tiny hatchling's body visibly tensed. All four limbs and tail seemed to pull in tightly and her breathing hitched with the intake of deep breath. She twisted and turned in Samar's scarf again, pointing her snout further out into the open room. 

...And then all of a sudden her whole, tiny body shook with the faint sound of a sneeze that spat a fireball –or rather, a fire _ crumb  _ given her size- spinning through the air, only narrowly missing Samar's cheek and then colliding with the back of the couch, fizzing out and leaving a black singe mark about the size of a fingernail in the middle of the cushion.  

'I see why you needed that fireproof cloak,' Samar observed, breaking into a wry smile that only made Aram grin all the more so. Without even realising it, she ran a gentle hand along those shimmering, blue scales until the tiny dragon's breathing slowed back to calm again. 'Hey, she's stopped shivering. Maybe she'll eat some more now.' 

Aram nodded in quick agreement. He darted across to the kitchen, pulling out a jug of the purple concoction that the hatchling seemed to enjoy so much and then pouring some into a clean dish. Samar rose to her feet, only wobbling slightly this time, and crossed the few steps worth of space to the bench with the incubator tank. With Aram's quick scurrying back and forth, by the time she reached the tank, he was only two steps behind her.  

Dragon and food dish lowered gently into the tank side by side. 

The former stretched, her movements still awkward and unsteady, but no less determined. She sniffed the air in front of her, catching the scent of her meal in all of a nanosecond. Clawed foot after clawed foot criss-crossed and stumbled over one another, but the tiny dragon was nothing if not persistent, pushing herself up after every last stumble and determinedly pushing her way towards the dish regardless.  

'I was thinking of calling her Lyra,' Samar said softly. She reached for one of the stools by the bench's edge, pulling it closer to her and quickly taking a seat before she could begin to wobble on her feet again. 'Or maybe Luna.'    
'Lyra's cute.' A look of deep approval crossed Aram's face as he thought about it, sitting down beside her. He reached into the incubator tank, gently scratching the dragon's tiny head with two fingers. 'What do you think, little one?' The dragon in question paused her sniffing and stared back at them for a moment, narrowing her eyes as if considering the notion.  

A breath even caught in Samar's throat, waiting for some kind of response. 

And then the tiny dragon gave a quick bob of her head, before continuing the clumsy clamber towards her meal.  

Dinner, of course, was a  _ far _ greater priority.  

Samar and Aram both smiled, watching her go.    
'Lyra it is then.' 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shoutout to thoughtfullyshadowypoetry/stef-draws-stuff over on tumblr, for her amazing drawing of Samar and the dragons <3
> 
> If you haven't seen it, you can check it out [right here!](https://stef-draws-stuff.tumblr.com/post/181539210395/samar-and-dragons-from-whimsyandsomething-s-fic)

Aram couldn't help but let out a yawn. It was only mid-morning but he was  _ exhausted. _ No matter how long he sat at his desk, staring at the mountain of notes he had written with each attempt to make an antidote to blindside potion, it was as if all he could do was read the same few lines of scrawled handwriting over and over again, without them ever really sticking in his brain.  

Not that it really mattered. Two full days had now passed since Samar, Felix, and Lyra had taken up temporary residence in his home, effectively doubling the size of his household in a single, chaotic evening. The effects of the potion grenade that had rattled her so badly were already wearing off and would probably be gone completely by the time Aram could finish making any kind of antidote if he continued at the current rate, but that didn't stop him from trying. It was a puzzle now that he couldn't solve, and the longer it stumped him, the more determined he was to solve it. Whether he could use it for Samar's current predicament in the end no longer mattered; Aram was adamant that it was his latest project and he was going to finish it.  

Assuming, of course, that he could keep his eyes open long enough.  

Being self-employed and working from home made it all too easy for distractions to stop any work getting done unless Aram kept himself to a strict quota of a minimum of six accumulative hours spent on his projects and research each workday. But, between Lyra having to be fed like any new baby –which was to say; every couple of hours, even throughout the night- and Samar, who for the most part took care of herself, but did still need the supervision of him staying close at hand to catch her in case she stumbled again, the distractions from work seemed to be flying left, right, and centre. 

Suffice to say that trying to juggle it all, including staying up later to finish off whatever he was working on after Samar went to bed, more or less ensured that sleep fell to the lowest rung of the priority ladder.  

Not that Aram really minded, in all fairness. Looking after dragons was as much a passion of his as his inventions, and having Samar around as well was as a joy just as much as it was stressful.  

As much as he desperately wanted to curl up for a nap, Aram couldn't help but smile at the very thought.  

He let out another yawn, and pushed his pile of notes further back on his workbench, unable to stare at them any longer. He swivelled on his stool, turning instead to glance at Lyra in her incubator. The baby dragon's keen appetite and steady supply of fresh food already showed; she had put on only a fraction of weight, but being so small it was enough to fill out the edges so that her bony frame was noticeably less distinct. 

The tiny ball of bright blue scales was gnashing her teeth and growling under her breath, rolling and stumbling playfully in the miniature cushions and blankets in the bottom of her tank whilst trying to claw her way forward to her food dish again. Her trek across the tank that was all of a foot long moved at the pace of a snail, but Aram grinned as he watched her anyway. To Lyra; that short distance was akin to climbing Everest, but the tiny dragon _ refused _ to give up.

Norbert zoomed quickly overhead, so close that the speedy whoosh of his wings sent a gust of cool air through Aram's messy hair. Aram glanced up at him with a single, raised eyebrow, shaking his head. It was only mid-morning and yet, he had already lost count of how many times the mischievous dragon had swooped him. Lyra let out a faint squawk –the loudest and most amused sound she could muster- staring up at Norbert doing his mad laps around the ceiling and swishing her tail back and forth for a moment.  
  
Aram sighed, only partly in exasperation; at least  _ she _ was entertained by Norbert's hyperactive antics.  

He shifted his gaze back to the tank, reaching in with two fingers to gently nudge the food dish closer to the tiniest of his charges.  

Lyra's head whipped around in an instant, snapping her teeth and letting out a disgruntled growl. Her deep blue eyes locked onto his dark browns, her moment of playfulness vanishing in an instant as she instead shot him a dagger-like glare until Aram got the hint.  

She wanted to make her  _ own  _ way to her dish  _ without _ assistance,  _ thank you very much. _

'Ok ok,' Aram chuckled, 'sorry.' He pulled the dish back to its designated spot, offering a wry smile. Just like that, the tiny dragon returned to her slow but no less content clawing and rolling across the bottom of the tank towards the dish. 'Where did that stubborn streak of yours come from, I wonder?' Aram added drolly. 

'You remember the part where I'm not actually her mother, right?' The quiet but easily amused voice jolted Aram's attention and he turned, noting Samar having appeared in the doorway between the main living area and the hallway to the spare bedroom. 'There are no genetics at play here for that stubborn streak to be my fault.' The tiniest hint of an amused smirk tugged at her lips, and Aram couldn't help but bow his head with a sheepish grin.    
'Well,' he mused back, 'she thinks you are.' Samar simply rolled her eyes in mock exasperation. She turned, doing a quick round of the room to offer each of the three dragons a brief scratch under the chin or behind the ears and then smirk again at Felix out cold curled up in as tight a ball as he could muster on the couch, before reaching the kitchen counter ready for coffee. 

As she moved, Aram could hardly take his eyes off her.  

It wasn't as if she was all dressed up, or even in her practical-but-still-stylish, clean cut work attire. Rather, she ambled about in her soft, cotton sleep shorts and an oversized t-shirt. Odd socks –allegedly caused by the combination of a laundry pixie infestation, and a deep impatience and lack of time to go shopping for new ones- graced her feet, her dark curls streamed from a low, messy pony tail that tumbled about her shoulders, and faint, sleepy rings sat under her eyes, and yet... Somehow she was even more beautiful than Aram had ever seen her before. There was just something about the just-woken-up, sleepy but refreshed smile, the way she seemed so content and comfortable moving around his space, and the complete and utter ease and affection with which she interacted with his dragons –and vice versa. It was a beauty that wasn't put on with any kind of deliberate attempt but rather, a natural one that radiated from her like the light from the sun.  

Between that and the sharp wit that never ceased to tease him so,  _ Merlin's beard... _ Aram was  _ floored. _

Only Norbert swooping overhead for the umpteenth time drew Aram's eyes away when he was forced to duck. 

'Hey, careful,' he grumbled, brow furrowing with a hint of annoyance. The overly-excitable ball of jet black scales landed deftly on the edge of the cauldron, bright green eyes gleaming back with such delight at his own antics that there was not a trace of apology in sight. Aram shook his head, letting out a sigh. Norbert's energy levels were usually high, even for his particular species of dragon, but that day in particular he was just about out of control. 

Even Jasper, usually the most unflappable of all of them, narrowed his eyes. His lilac tail gave a small, instinctive flick of irritation, only narrowly missing his brother's feet perched along the cauldron edge behind him... Not that Norbert noticed. He was all too preoccupied with surveying the room from his latest vantage point, cackling softly to himself.  

Jasper's tail flicked again, wider this time as the cackling seemed to intensify. It flicked again, and again... And again. 

And then all of a sudden it flicked ever so slightly too far.  

By sheer chance the end of his tail cracked across Norbert's feet like a whip, sending the smaller dragon tumbling through the air across the room.  

Norbert let out a screech. His wings unfurled with lightning speed, easily catching himself in the air before he could slam into anything, and he  _ charged  _ forwards. Full pelt he divebombed once, twice, three times, swooping Jasper far too close for comfort and sending the larger dragon scuttling across the room with a wail of dismay. 

'Damn it, Norbert,' Aram growled. He bounded across the room, his gangly legs affording him a relative speed under the circumstances despite how exhausted he was, and reached out with one hand to halt the mischievous dragon in his tracks. 'That was an  _ accident,'  _ Aram continued, 'unlike what you're doing, which is just being a-'   
'-Hey,' Samar's voice sharply interjected over him. She paused, waiting the extra split second for Aram to meet her gaze, before softening her tone; 'breathe.' Aram let out a slow, deep breath, his brief flash of frustration already passing. He bowed his head, allowing Norbert to flutter away again to the safety of the smallest nest box on the back-most edge of the top-most shelf in the corner of the room.   
'Sorry,' he muttered. His gaze flickered to Norbert in the corner for a moment, his eyes apologetic for the tone but not at all for the words. Leaving her freshly steaming coffee mug on the counter behind her, Samar crossed the room back to him, one hand landing gently against his arm.   
'You have a lot on your plate at the moment,' she said softly, before casting a wary, raised eyebrow in Norbert's direction, 'and he needs a more productive outlet for his energy.'   
'I did a full hour of training with him earlier-' Aram began, running a weary hand through his hair until it stood up in little, dark spikes.   
'-I know-'   
'-and then he ran around with Felix for another hour after that-' not even the sound of his name three hours later prompted the snoozing cat's ears to twitch. Norbert had run him  __ ragged.  
'-I know-'   
'-even for a Garden Gobbler, he's off the  __ charts-'  
'-I know,' Samar repeated, ever so slightly firmer with each instance. Aram paused, opening and quickly closing his mouth again as he gave up the breathless rambling and let out another sigh instead. Samar held his gaze, the expression on her face softening as she eyed the dark rings that sat heavy under his eyes; 'Aram, you need to get some rest too.' 

Aram's brow quickly furrowed.  

'I can't,' he began to stress, 'I've got to keep up Lyra's feeding schedule, and work on my projects, and watch  _ you-'  _ Samar broke into a wistful smile, lifting her spare hand in a calming gesture until he stopped mid-sentence.  
'I can feed Lyra,' she said softly, 'and I'm not dizzy enough anymore to need watching, I'm just tired. Not to mention, when you're this tired and stressed out, you're not going to get any work done no matter how hard you try. You're more likely to accidentally blow yourself up. So please, just go take a nap?' 

Aram bit his lip.  _ Goodness, it was tempting. _ He was so tired from the last few days of running around like crazy, he felt as if he had slammed straight into a brick wall. It was no wonder he was running on a shorter fuse than usual. 

_ But... _

'I thought  _ I _ was the one taking care of  _ you,' _  he mused. An affectionate smile tugged at the corners of his lips, and Samar's hand slid softly down his arm, giving his fingers a gentle, reassuring squeeze.  

'Go,' she insisted, 'I'll put Norbert through some bounty hunter training or something. That'll wear him out.' 

Reluctance plastered its way all across Aram's face for a moment, but ultimately he bowed his head in defeat. Unable to stop the yawn from escaping him –almost as if just to prove her point- he turned, shuffling across the room towards the hallway.  

'Jasper,' Samar spoke up again, breaking into a wry smile. The dragon in question instantly glanced up at her. 'Make sure he actually rests, please?' The larger dragon gave a snort of agreement that if Samar listened close enough, rang with a distinct undertone of amusement. He bobbed his head, turning on the spot and padding slowly but purposefully across the room after Aram. Samar watched as he moved, waiting for the end of Jasper's pastel purple tail to disappear entirely around the corner, just to be sure.  

'Hey,' she heard Aram's voice half-heartedly grumble from the hallway, 'ok, ok, I'm going. Jasper,  _ for Merlin's sake, _ stop snapping at my ankles.' 

A grin etched its way across Samar's face at that; Jasper's love of being helpful truly was unwavering, even when the person on the receiving end didn't necessarily appreciate it straight away.  

She turned, shifting her attention to the next task at hand. With Felix out cold, Lyra still working on her latest food dish, Aram off to bed and Jasper likely to curl up half on top of him both to make sure he stayed there,  _ and _ keep a safe distance from any more potential divebombs, there was only one member of the household left to deal with. 

_ Norbert. _

The shimmering mischief-maker, clearly noting the changeover in who was in charge, poked his head up from the corner nest box, surveying the room below with an intense curiosity in his gleaming eyes. His head poked up further and his wings slowly began to unfurl. He lifted from the box, hovering for a moment, and then zoomed across the room, landing gleefully on Samar's shoulder.  

'Don't grin at me like that,' she warned –albeit gently. The tiny dragon simply tilted his head as if he were the picture of absolute innocence. 

Samar rolled her eyes, shaking her head in exasperation.  

Whoever would have thought that a  _ dragon, _ of all creatures, would finally make her understand all too clearly how her parents used to feel whenever she and Shahin argued over the soccer ball in the backyard as kids? 

/*/*/*/* 

Samar took a deep breath, steadying herself. With a fresh food dish deposited in Lyra's tank and the old one discarded in the sink to be washed, she lowered herself back onto the dining chair by the table where Norbert was waiting.  

The dizzy spells were gone, but still the fatigue from her dose of blindside potion seemed to linger –and worse yet, rear its ugly head any time she stayed on her feet for longer than fifteen minutes. Sitting down again was a reasonable enough improvement, but only so far as the physical tiredness was concerned. 

Now, her  _ patience _ on the other hand... 

Norbert had the speed and agility for fast laps around obstacle courses, but found it more entertaining to barrel straight through them and knock the obstacles over than go around them properly. He had more than enough breath to blow impressive clouds of smoke, but so much enthusiasm for creating them in amusing shapes that the extra force with each puff sent sparks shooting towards the curtains, leaving Samar to hurriedly extinguish the flames with one flick of her wand and repair the singe marks left behind with another before Aram could notice.  

Which was to say, the young dragon had all the skills he needed to relieve his over-exuberant energy levels and accompany her while bounty hunting, but none of the discipline to use them. 

Which in turn, left one more exercise to try; fire breathing practice –and not just with the goal of breathing the largest and hottest flames one could muster but rather, concentrating on aim and precision to light a single candle without inflicting any kind of damage on anything around it. 

Finally, it was a challenge that actually captured Norbert's attention. 

The first attempts went hand in hand with too much force, lighting the entire candle rather than the tip and resulting in a piping hot puddle of molten wax all over the table in a blink of an eye. Another quick flick of Samar's wand re-solidified the wax and returned it to its holder easily enough, though not before Norbert's eyes had narrowed with frustrated concentration.  

Subsequent attempts went the opposite direction. Each breath of flames was gentle in the bid not to melt the candle again, but so much so that not a single spark held alight on the wick rather than plummeting to the table, missing the candle entirely and leaving a faint trail of singe marks all along the dark wood.  

The ball of jet black scales that usually trembled with energy and mischief began to slump, deflating more and more with every failed attempt. His bottom lip popped out, in a way that even on a dragon easily resembled a miserable pout.  

A wistful smile crossed Samar's face. Where this particular exercise was concerned, he really was trying. And, at the end of the day, he was still a _young_ dragon and the abnormally high energy levels he had been born with weren't exactly his fault. Sure, it was his choice to cause havoc in his attempts to burn said energy off, but the lack of discipline wasn't helped by his relative immaturity either.  

Maybe, just maybe, a little encouragement and a sense of success would point him in the right direction.  

'Come on, Norbert,' Samar coaxed him. 'Give it one more shot.' She reached across the table, offering him a quick scratch between the ears. Just like that, just with her affectionate touch, the tiny creature pushed himself up off the table again. His eyes narrowed in concentration, and his chest puffed out with the deep intake of breath.  

Norbert swivelled slowly on the spot, the claws of his back feet curling into the table top in subconscious determination as he lined up with the candlestick in the holder before him. 

He paused for a moment, sizing up his target... And then he began to blow.  

/*/*/*/* 

When Aram awoke from his nap and re-emerged from the hallway, stifling a yawn and leaving Jasper still snoozing in his bedroom, the living room was far quieter and notably less  _ disaster-like _ than he was expecting.  

...Which was to say, it was completely still and silent, save for the slow, soft turning of pages by Samar, reading a book at the dining table. 

Aram glanced around the room, brow furrowing further and further in confusion.  

Lyra was dozing happily in her tank, another freshly emptied bowl of food sitting just beside her as if the full belly had sent her off to sleep before she'd even had the chance to move. Felix was curled up again, this time in a ball on the dining chair that neighboured Samar's. 

Norbert, meanwhile, was nowhere to be seen. 

Aram crossed the room towards Samar, the movement prompting her to look up from her book and offer little more than a wry smile.  

'How's he going?' Aram asked, his voice quiet and shaking with something almost tentative. A flash of something mischievous twinkled those warm eyes of hers and Samar set the book gently closed on the table. She rose to her feet, one finger rising to her lips in a shush-ing gesture while her other hand waved towards the larger next box in the corner typically favoured by Jasper. Aram shuffled the extra two steps towards the box, peering over the edge.  

There, curled up in the corner and barely visible aside from the edge of his snout poking out from under a blanket, was Norbert, sound asleep. 

Aram was dumbfounded.  

'How... On earth?' He sputtered.    
'Sometimes mental exercise can be just as exhausting as physical,' Samar mused. 'It took him a while-' a smirk tugged at her lips as she shifted her hand to gesture at the newly repaired curtains instead '-and a few singe marks, but he got there eventually.' She paused for a beat, studying the confusion etching its way across Aram's face all over again before stepping forwards. 

And as she moved, Aram caught a glimpse of what was on the table behind her.  

Five candles all in a row, perfectly lit.  

Aram's eyes widened. Surprise, disbelief and pride all flashed across his face in a rollercoaster ride of emotions and he gaped, lost for words. 

Samar's wry smile only widened.  

'It seems a shame now to waste his efforts and blow them out.' A soft, wistful laugh escaped her, but there was still something curious about the way her knowing gaze seemed to watch his. Aram turned his head, shifting his attention from the soft light of those flickering flames to Samar before him. She took a few steps forward, closing the gap between them. 

A shy smile crinkled his eyes, and he shuffled awkwardly on the spot.  

'Well, uh, you're looking more alive today,' he began, but within a second of the words tumbling out of his mouth, he winced. None of it had come out as planned. No matter what state Samar was in, she was gorgeous. Even with the colour drained from her face and her eyes struggling to stay open while she was in the grip of the potion she had been attacked with, she was beautiful. But what was more amazing than anything else was seeing her looking well, and even more importantly, happy and content again. Now, even though she was tired, there was a rosyness about her cheeks again, and that  _ smile... _

That smile of hers, the most genuine kind that lit up her eyes with radiant sparkle, could just about buckle his exhausted knees. 

All he really wanted to say was that he was glad to see she was looking better again but of course, words had never been his strong suit when faced with a smile like that. Aram shuffled awkwardly back and forth on the spot again. His hands wrung in front of him, but that curious smile on Samar's face didn't falter for a moment and so Aram took a breath, steadying himself. 

'Maybe we should have dinner?' He suggested. His own smile turned to a sheepish grin. 'You know, seeing as all the kids are asleep at the same time for once.'  
'Funny,' she replied, 'I was thinking the same thing.' Samar slipped her wand from her pocket, flicking a casual reveal spell at the table behind her... Unveiling two plates either side of the candles, laden with freshly cooked stew and roast vegetables.  

She took another step closer, until there was barely no space left between them at all and a breath caught in Aram's throat. Samar tilted her head, her smile softening. She lifted one hand to rest it against his cheek, fingertips tracing the soft stubble of his jaw. Aram's heart rate quickened, almost threatening to thump right out of his chest. 

'Thank you for keeping an eye out for me the last few days,' Samar murmured. Without even realising it at first, Aram's hand lifted to rest atop hers on his cheek, giving it a gentle squeeze.   
'I really didn't do that much,' he whispered back. Aram bowed his head slightly; 'especially not today.'  
'Well, I appreciate it.' Samar's eyes crinkled with affection.  

She leaned in, her lips grazing softly against his. For a split second Aram gasped with surprise before his brain kicked into gear and his arms wrapped slowly around her waist, sweet bliss crashing over him in a wave as Samar began to sink comfortably into him, and then... 

...An almighty bleating noise rang in their ears, pulling them apart with a jolt.  

Aram glanced up, giving a good-natured eye roll at the sight of Norbert awake again, zooming out of the next box and swooping overhead. The mischievous, young dragon lapped the room before coming in to perch on the top of a dining chair backrest. His head tilted sideways, watching them intently, and if dragons had eyebrows of which they could raise one with amused suspicion, Aram would have sworn that Norbert did.  

'Well,' he chuckled softly, 'it was quiet while it lasted.’  
'Yes,' Samar grinned back. Her hands slipped down to the front of his shirt, pulling him back to her again. 'It was.' 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget to comment if you're enjoying the story, folks! :D


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ha, ok so, for those of you that haven't been following me over on tumblr; what I had planned for Chapter 6 ended up getting so long that I had to split it into not just two, but _three_ chapters before I could get to the epilogue... All of which I accidentally wrote, along _with_ the epilogue in the space of three days, because I am an Overexcited Dork 😂
> 
> Suffice to say all the writing for this fic is now all done. And because I'm excitable and impatient ans simply cannot contain myself, that means I shall now be posting the remaining four chapters in two lots of two.
> 
> Enjoy!

It took a week's worth of phone calls and far too many overly polite requests through gritted teeth before permission was granted for Samar to interview her last bounty in prison.  

Back on her feet after another few days' rest, she had been enveloped by a certain sense of tunnel vision. Before she could get back to work as normal, she had one very particular goal to complete; 

To find the wizard who was using his inventive skills for all the wrong reasons, and take him  _ down. _

And the first port of call for that, was coaxing her last bounty into revealing where his potion grenade had come from. 

Samar gritted her teeth, striding quickly down her street towards Aram's home to pick up Norbert for the day. The early chill of the season caught her breath in the air in front of her and so she pulled up her scarf, bunching it up around the lower half of her face to shield from the icy air. Gloved hands plunged next into the deep pockets of her velvet-y, fireproof cloak, warming them for an extra second before knocking on Aram's door as quick as possible. She was determined now; Aram's less than heroic counterpart had to be stopped, before anyone else suffered the same blast of potion grenades that she had... Or worse.  

She could only hope that her last bounty would give her the answers she wanted, rather than stubbornly refusing and stopping her search in its tracks before it even had the chance to start.  

In the meantime, she had spent a portion of every day with Norbert, putting him through endless drills of aim, precision, agility, and discipline, bribing him to behave himself with the incentive of being allowed to fly with her on her less dangerous assignments. He still couldn't stop himself from swooping and darting all over the place, but the training exercises wore him out and the incentive was more than enough to coax him into trying to restrain himself, to the point that he perched himself here and there between laps, trembling from head to foot with the energy he was desperate to contain.  

If nothing else, it was progress.  

Aram's front door swung wide open, no longer by just the tiniest of cracks around which he could suspiciously poke his head. He expected her now, and a grin lit up his eyes with delighted anticipation.  

'Hey,' he greeted her. Aram took a half step back from the door, still beaming back at her. A wry smile tugged at the corners of Samar's lips; it had been such a long time since anyone was so genuinely pleased to see her that she had almost forgotten what it felt like. It was undeniably pleasant, filling her belly with a warmth that had no business being there when the air around her loomed with incoming frost, and rendering her completely unable to keep up her usual mask of calculating neutrality rather than smiling straight back at him. Aram stood there, rugged up with a thick sweater over his long pajama bottoms and fuzzy, grey socks given the early hour and the ability to invent in well, anything. His hair seemed to stick out in a dozen different directions as if styled by pillow, and the strappy, dragon-holding contraption wound all the way around his chest again, with Lyra's teeny tiny snout just poking out the top.  

He was the absolute picture of ridiculousness and yet, each and every last, dorky thing Samar just found more endearing.  

'Hey,' she mused back. She pulled her hands back out of her pockets again, holding them up in the air with a certain flourish for him to see, before leaning forward to reach around the contraption and scratch Lyra's chin. The tiny hatchling nuzzled into her hand, trilling softly under her breath in response. 'You should whip up some gloves with some kind of heating spell threaded through the fibres,' she added drolly, 'these aren't going to cut it once we get further into winter.' 

Aram blinked, the grin on his face instantly vanishing and replaced with a more sobered, contemplative expression. He tilted his head for a moment, then nodded, beaming back at her again –this time with approval. 

'I'll add that to my to-do list,' he said. Samar did a double take; at first she had been kidding, but the second the words had left her mouth and given Aram pause to think, the idea struck her with seriousness too. Heated gloves would be a simple enough addition to Aram's ever-growing repertoire of projects, and they were something almost everyone could –and  _ would- _ make use of. She grinned again, pleased with the idea, and Aram turned on the spot, glancing back over his shoulder. 'Norbert?' He called through the house. In an instant, the ball of jet black scales zoomed out, arching straight over Aram and Lyra, and landing light as a feather on Samar's shoulder instead. He sat up tall there, puffing out his chest with pride. Samar raised a single, wry eyebrow, turning her gaze to him.   
'Have you been behaving yourself?' She asked. Her tone was firm, but she couldn't stop the corners of her lips from twitching. Instantly melting, Norbert bobbed his head, shuffling across her shoulder closer to her face and gently bumping his snout against her cheek. 

'Mostly,' Aram drolly answered for him, rolling his eyes in mock exasperation. Norbert tilted his head, screwing up his face in indignation. 'Ok, you know the deal-' Aram reached forwards, chucking the mischievous dragon under the chin '-stay with Samar, do what she tells you to do. No wreaking havoc or wandering off, or you don't get to go with her again.' Aram's dark eyes locked with the dragon's gleaming greens for a moment, the former forcing himself to look surprisingly stern for once, while the latter deflated again, letting out a sigh and bowing his head in reluctant agreement.  

Samar dug into her pocket, quickly pulling a strip of beef jerky out of the packet she had bought as treats, and tossing one up for him. Norbert jumped, catching it mid-air with his usual impressive somersault and quickly landed back in place as if having never moved at all. Aram rolled his eyes again, and Samar couldn't help but smirk; how on earth she had ended up in the role of 'good cop' with Aram as 'bad cop' when it came to Norbert's antics, she wasn't entirely sure, but she couldn't deny that it was amusing. It was that mischievous streak Norbert had, where he wasn't malicious or deliberately destructive, but simply active, young, and found no end of amusement in toeing dangerously close to the line  _ just _ to see how far he could push it without overstepping. 

If Norbert could talk, she would have even hazarded a guess that he would have her same dry, teasing sense of humour. Really, she couldn't _ not  _ relate to the little guy, just as Aram and Jasper bonded so easily over their love of building gadgets.  

'Ready to go?' She asked, glancing sideways to the troublemaker on her shoulder. He bobbed his head, puffing out his chest all over again. Shooting Aram a quick smile, and offering Lyra another gentle scratch, Samar lifted her broomstick, ready to take off.    
'Hey,' Aram said softly. Samar paused, glancing back at him again with curious amusement. He shuffled forwards those few extra steps between them, one hand coming to rest softly against her arm. 'Be safe,' he added. The words were quiet but earnest, and the second they left his mouth Aram bowed his head. He lingered there, his gaze longing but still shy, as if he wanted to kiss her again but wasn't sure if he could. Samar's smile widened, the corners turning soft as that pleasant warmth spread through her belly all over again. She reached out to him, gently pulling him closer by the chest of his sweater either side of Lyra's contraption.    
'It's only a prison interview,' she murmured back. Samar leaned in, pressing her lips to his slow and soft for a moment before breaking away again; 'but, I will.' 

/*/*/*/* 

Flying was always joyous; the wind rippled through Samar's hair and flushed her cheeks pink as she sailed through the air. Though cold, the skies were clear, quiet, and open for adventure, never ceasing to fill her with that sense of freedom and inner peace that others found with running or hiking through the wilderness. Norbert zoomed along beside her, his wings outstretched wide and his eyes lit up with the joy of discovering his own newfound freedom. He didn't tremble, he didn't veer away. There was no fear and no need for him to cause havoc. It was that perfect level of activity and distance to use his energy without tiring him so much so that he fell behind.  

Every so often he switched sides, manoeuvring around her or even throwing in the occasional corkscrew just for the fun of it, but he always stayed close and more importantly... He was _ happy,  _ and his sheer delight was contagious.  

Samar couldn't help but smile as she watched him, her tiny troublemaker cawing, whistling, and cheering into the wind. She reached out when they came to a flat straight, lifting one hand from her broomstick and running it softly along the smooth scales of his tail. Norbert squawked with glee, looping under and then back around over again to affectionately bump his snout against her cheek in response before falling back to her side again.  

All along they had been right; all Norbert needed was a better outlet for his energy.  

And now he had one.  

Touching down again just outside the prison entrance was almost disappointing, but Norbert landed easily back on her shoulder, giving a quick shake off of his wings before curling them back into his sides. For the first time, his body was relaxed, free of the tension that came with overflowing energy. He let out a happy sigh, nudging Samar again until she gave him a quick scratch along his snout.  

And then, facing those slowly opening doors at the entrance, they both took a breath. The shared smiles vanished, replaced by more serious expressions in perfect synchronisation.  

Now, they had a job to do.  

Samar walked briskly through the prison beside the guard escorting her to the interview room. Starling Rogers, her last bounty and the very warlock who had thrown the blindside potion grenade already sat inside, waiting impatiently at the table.  

'Good morning,' Samar began, polite but short and to the point in her greeting. Her gaze panned the room out of sheer habit. This wasn't the comfortable, easy environment of Aram's home. Now, she was back in work mode, alert and aware of every inch of her surroundings. The room was thick, grey brick, the metal barred door the only entrance or exit. It was almost entirely empty, aside from the simple table and chairs right in the centre. 

It was stark, not that Samar had really expected anything else.  

'I'd like to ask you a few questions about our last encounter.' She sat down at the table across from him, Norbert still perched quiet and still on her shoulder.   
'Why would I talk to you when you're the one who put me in here?' The warlock grunted back. His gaze flickered sideways from her own to Norbert, and he shook his head with disdain, sending his shaggy, grey hair tumbling about his orange jumpsuit-clad shoulders.    
'Because if you don't,' Samar said simply, I can make your life stuck in here a whole lot more difficult.' She stared back at him, letting out a sigh of feigned tired, disinterest. She had no patience for playing his games, and she certainly wasn't about to reveal just how much she needed him to talk. 

That would only add more fuel to his resistance. 

The warlock rolled his eyes, both handcuffed wrists raising just so that one hand could wave lackadaisically in Norbert's direction. 

'Your lizard there looks ridiculous,' he scoffed. In her peripheral vision, Samar noted the way Norbert's body instantly tensed and his eyes narrowed with annoyance at the insult. His chest puffed out and his head lifted slightly, poised to fire at a split second's notice. Samar lifted one hand and rested them on the tiny claws curling into her shoulder –the simple, wordless communication to settle and not let the words sting- but her gaze remained firmly locked on that of her target.    
'The device you had that released the red smoke,' she drily continued, entirely unshaken, 'where did you get it?' Starling's lip curled up with a smirk in an instant.   
'Oh,' he drawled, long and slow so that the word hung in the air between them, 'had fun with that, did you?'  

That was Samar's cue to roll her eyes. 

Yeah, 'fun' was  _ one _ word to describe the dizziness, fainting and nausea spells she'd had for days on end, but she wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of knowing that much.  

'I know you're not bright enough to have made it yourself, Starling,' she sighed, the impatience beginning to creep into her voice, 'so where did you get it?'   
'Oh yeah, because insulting a guy's the way to get information out of him,' he shot back.  

Samar's teeth gritted together. She lifted that hand again, this time to softly nudge Norbert's foot with two fingers. His chest puffed out again and within a nanosecond, a ball of flames shot out at lightning speed across the table. It whooshed past Starling's ear so close that he would easily feel the sweltering heat but without it actually burning him, before fizzling in the air just behind him... But not before making him jump about an inch out of his chair. 

'The next one won't miss,' Samar mused. Beside her, Norbert twitched with a smug sort of pride in himself, and it took everything she had not to break into a smirk of amusement. 'Good luck surviving prison with half your face missing.'   
'Sure,' the warlock shot back. The single word rung with the attempt to sound disbelieving, but without quite pulling it off. Another nudge of Norbert's foot prompted another soft intake of breath, ready to fire, and Starling's eyes instantly widened with alarm. 'Ok, ok,' he hurriedly went on, lifting both handcuffed wrists in surrender, 'jeez.' Norbert deflated again, giving another twitch, and finally Samar allowed herself that tiny smirk.  

A master criminal, Starling Rogers certainly was not.  

And Samar had broken  _ many  _ a master criminal before him. 

'They call him the Silver Shadow,' Starling sighed, and Samar raised a single, wry eyebrow. 'Over the top, I know,' the warlock added, rolling his eyes again. 'He sells the stuff out of a stall up on Goblin's Bend.'   
'The markets?'   
'Yeah. Real shifty looking dude, you can't miss him.' 

Contemplation crossed Samar's face for a moment, and she nodded slowly. She knew the place. 

Samar rose from her seat, strolling straight through the doors as they opened for her. The second they were clear she reached into her pocket, pulling out another treat and tossing it upwards for Norbert to catch. His wings unfurled and he somersaulted again, squawking to himself with pride, and Samar couldn't help but smile; he had done well.  

He zoomed along in the air beside her, swooping in happy loops the moment they reached outside. Samar picked up her broom, swinging one leg over it and bracing to push up into the air again. Still the smile remained etched on her face as they lifted off, but now her eyes wandered with curious, determined thought. 

One step down, one step closer to shutting the Silver Shadow down for good. 


	7. Chapter 7

The was an air of content weariness about Norbert as Samar touched down outside Aram's front door to drop him home again, the tiny troublemaker still hovering by her side. An almost smile stretched across his scaly snout, and he fluttered to a slow stop on her shoulder again, letting out a happy sigh. 

The front door swung open before her fingertips could even reach it to knock, and Aram peered out, his head tilting with instant affection at the sight of the dragon who was notably calmer now than before his departure just a couple of hours earlier.  

'How'd you go?' Aram asked, breaking into a smile. He stood back from the door to let them in, one arm out wide to wrap gently around Samar's waist as she fell into step beside him.  
'Good,' Samar replied softly, dotting a slow kiss to his cheek. The door fell closed behind them, and Aram's cheek flushed at her touch. Norbert hopped from her shoulder to Aram's, nuzzling affectionately into his neck for a moment, before fluttering happily across the room. For a split second, ever so pleased with himself, he perched on the edge of the larger nest box in the corner that Jasper loved so much –and in fact, was curled up in already- and peered in, before softly hopping in beside him and curling contently into his brother's front legs.  

Jasper shifted ever so slightly to make him more comfortable, rested his head against Norbert's, and just like that he fell still again, the slow breathing of slumber overtaking both dragons in perfect synchronisation.  

'That's...' Aram began, gaping slightly in amazed disbelief as he watched on, 'new, for sure.' Samar leaned further into his side, trusting him to hold her up, and rested her chin against his shoulder for a moment.  
'He's a good distance flyer,' she said softly, 'he loved the freedom of the open sky.' Samar broke into a grin. 'And hey, if all that flying wears him out, surely it can only be a good thing, right?' Aram's eyes crinkled. He turned to face her, one hand brushing that one strand of loose hair back off her face and behind her ear. He leaned in, tilting his head down to press his lips to hers and Samar took them, gladly. She sunk comfortably into his arms as they wound around her, her own hands creeping slowly upwards so that one traced the soft stubble of his jaw and the other grasped at his shirtfront, pulling him ever closer. Not even to draw breath did they pull apart. Blissful quiet filled the room, enveloping them entirely. All their focus was on one another, filling their bellies with warmth and tingling their skin at each other's every touch. Samar wanted never to let go but rather, to pull him closer and closer even when there was nowhere else left for him to go. He was wrapped around her and her around him, their lips pressing firm but gentle all at once in that perfect harmony that made her sigh against him with the sort of happiness she had missed for so long.  

Out of nowhere a growl, quiet though low and warning all the same, sounded behind Samar, pulling her backwards. She turned on the spot, still in Aram's grasp, both of them furrowing their brow in confusion, surprise, and frankly; disappointment.  

Lyra pressed herself up against the wall of her tank, wings and claws scraping at the glass and trying to clamber up the smooth surface but ultimately going nowhere. She growled again and again, sharper with each instance despite the low volume that was all she could manage. Her movements grew more and more frantic, and Samar and Aram darted towards her.  

Jasper's head poked slowly, sleepily up out of his box, lifting Norbert –who had crawled up onto his head- up with him. Aram scooped the littlest dragon up in his hands, his gaze focused solely on her as she then tried to claw her way up his arms and shirt in desperation.  

Samar glanced around the room, narrowing her eyes. Norbert's sleep-heavy eyes snapped open, his own tiny body tensing with alarm only two seconds before Jasper too, followed suit.  

The quiet was no longer so blissful, but eerie. The hairs on the back of her neck began to prickle, and where that warmth had sat in her belly only moments earlier, now an uncomfortable chill set in, sending a shiver down her spine.  

'Aram,' she slowly began. Something wasn't right. What it was exactly, Samar didn't know, but there was  _ something.  _ She knew, and so did the dragons.    
'Hmm?' Aram glanced up, concern furrowing his brow first at Lyra's distress and then the alertness tensing Samar's shoulders. 'What's going on?' Norbert lifted slowly from Jasper's head, his fluttering wings moving him quickly across the room, and without even thinking about it Samar reached out with one arm for him to land on.  
'I’m not sure yet,' she murmured, 'but I think someone's outside.' She strode the few steps across the room to the window, one hand slowly pushing back the edge of the curtain to peer out, and- 

_ -WHAM. _

The edges of the front door frame glowed red for a split second, before the entire door itself crashed down against the ground with a billowing cloud of smoke and dust. 

Samar's hand slipped immediately to the wand at her waist, drawing it and standing at the ready as the silhouette of a tall, slim figure pushed its way forward, uninvited through the cloud. 

'So you're the witch who sends fear through the veins of half my imprisoned friends,' came a low, all too self-satisfied voice. Silver-y grey eyes shifted to Aram on the opposite side of the room. 'And my truly lesser counterpart,' he added, 'how  _ sweet.'  _ Samar's heart rate instantly quickened.  

The Silver Shadow. 

She cursed herself internally.  _ Of course _ that Starling Rogers would have wasted all of two seconds before telling any other inmate who would listen that she was going after the Silver Shadow. Dark witches and wizards formed a deep network, a web of connections spread far and wide through the magical community. It wouldn't have taken long for word to trickle back to the Shadow himself. 

And instead of going to ground to avoid capture, he was making his stand and coming after her before she could come after him. 

'Nice entrance,' Samar replied drolly. She steadied herself, the picture of calm that was a stark contrast to the racing heart beat inside and the half a dozen different plans all forming at once in her brain. 'Very dramatic.' A smug smirk curled the corners of the Shadow's lips.  
'Your reputation precedes you,' he sneered back. 'But I assure you, it won't for much longer.' Samar lifted her wand, aiming square at his chest. Without even realising it, she stepped sideways, subconsciously shielding Aram, or Jasper, or Lyra, or whoever else she could work her way in front of. Her mouth opened, forming the small 'o' of breath before words could form to fire spell after spell. 

Time stood still. The seconds felt like hours with everything moving in slow motion.  

Before even the slightest sound could move past her lips, the Shadow reached into his cloak, pulling out a silver-y metal ball from the pockets within that was all too familiar, if not distinctly larger than the last one Samar had seen. Her eyes widened in recognition and alarm, and all Samar could do was turn, her wand arm raising to cover her face. 

_'Aram, duck!'_ The words, yelled in urgent frenzy barely registered in her own ears before the room filled with an endless cloud of thick, green smoke. Samar ducked, one hand clutching at Norbert on her shoulder as his claws sunk in to hold on for dear life, and the other hand covering her mouth and nose. Crouched down she tried to hurry, navigating around the furniture –that thankfully, these days she knew like the back of her hand- and out of the room. She blinked rapidly, her eyes straining to see little more than faint outlines through the cloud. She couldn't see Aram, Lyra, Jasper, or even the Shadow himself, but she pushed forwards anyway.  

The crashing sound of someone running into a couch or workbench or  _ something _ sounded ahead of her and to the right, not far from where she knew the doorway to the hall was.  

_ 'Samar,' _ Aram's breathless voice called out to her from the same direction.    
'I'm here,' she replied quickly. She reached out to him, her fingertips feeling through the cloud for his and latching on.  _ Respect for furniture be damned _ . She kicked back with one foot, slamming the hallway door shut behind her, hopefully separating them from wherever the Shadow was further back in the cloud. Aram's fingers tugged on hers, pulling her further down the hallway faster than and ahead of the shimmering emerald cloud to where it was thinner. A flash of movement before her eyes saw Aram's wand swish quickly back and forth, and all of a sudden an oddly cool, slightly damp but otherwise refreshing sensation cascaded down her face.  

All of a sudden she could see, and more importantly; she could  _ breathe. _

Samar blinked, staring back at Aram. A faint, clear film seemed to form a filter across his face, shielding him –and now apparently, her as well- from the worst of the cloud.  

He tugged on her hand again, pulling her through the door at the end of the hallway that led out into the backyard.  

The daylight streamed into her eyes and Samar blinked again, catching her breath. 

_ 'That's _ the evil version of me?' Aram gasped, as his feet came to a stop on the wooden boards of the deck that overlooked the garden.   
'Yeah,' Samar breathed back, 'I was going to tell you about that.' She gestured to the clear filter over her face. 'What _ is  _ this?'   
'Something I thought up a few years ago, after I almost accidentally blew a potion up in my face,' he quickly replied, a tiny grin tugging at his lips. 'I knew it'd come in handy someday.'  
'Nice.' Samar glanced around the garden, instinctively doing a quick headcount. Norbert was still on her shoulder, Jasper stood by Aram's side, pressed up against his leg, and- 

_ Crap. _

'Where's Lyra?' She gasped. Aram's head whipped around, doing a double take.   
'I thought you had her.' In an instant the panic began to set into his voice.   
'Why would I have her?' Samar hissed back, urgent but trying to keep her voice quiet all at once. 'You were holding her.'   
'She jumped out of my hands as soon as the grenade went off,' Aram whispered back. 'I thought she went to you.' Samar shook her head, her eyes wide and searching around them for their tiny ball of bright blue scales. Aram ran panicked hands through his hair, standing it up in those little, dark spikes.    
'Ok, um...' Samar took a breath. All the different plans that had formed in her brain at once went flying out the window with that revelation, putting her right back to the start. They had to keep moving. They had to fight back... But they couldn't leave Lyra behind. 

Only problem was; they had no idea where she was, and finding her meant walking straight back into the plume of dangerous green smoke that they had only just escaped, with their invading villain not far behind. 

They had no idea where exactly he was either.  

Samar's mind raced, trying to fit the puzzle pieces together in such a way that they could find the solution.  

'Jasper-' Aram began to speak, barely a nanosecond before she too, could do the same. The pastel purple dragon's head whipped up, staring back at his master with eyes wide and alert.   
'-We need to keep moving,' Samar spoke too, almost over the top of him, 'is there another way we can get back in to find Lyra?' For a moment Aram didn't even seem to hear her. His focus was on Jasper, and he gave a short nod, communicating something that Samar could only hope to guess.    
'Go, buddy,' he said quickly. Samar furrowed her brow at that, opening her mouth to interject, but not before the larger dragon bobbed his head, taking careful step after careful step back towards the door into the house.  

And then all of a sudden, the tip of his tail began to fade away. Like a paintbrush stroke in rewind, stripping the paint away and revealing the canvas beneath, the lilac scales disappeared right before her eyes in a swift movement from one end to the other, until there was no dragon left to be seen. 

Samar recoiled, doing a double take. 

'What the hell?' She burst out. 'Is he invisible?' Aram gave a wary shrug and an uneasy smile.    
'Almost,' he quickly replied, then took a breath. 'Think of it more like the way a chameleon blends in to its surroundings.' Samar narrowed her eyes slightly. The back door opened and closed, seemingly all on its own, but if she concentrated, she could see the faintest ripple of movement in the air around Jasper's height. 

The door fell softly closed behind him again, and Samar smiled in amazed disbelief; in the plumes of smoke inside, not even that faint ripple of movement would be visible at all.  

'Has he  _ always _ been able to do that?' She asked.    
'Mmhmm,' Aram hummed back. He tugged on her hand again, pulling her along down the steps from the deck, Norbert zooming eagerly along behind them. Even in his hand, Samar could feel his adrenaline-rushed heartbeat –probably the only thing keeping him functioning. 'Technically he could change colour whenever he wants.' He added, still hurrying along. 'Come on, if that potion grenade is what I think it is, then the dragons are immune. Jasper will be fine.'   
'Then... ' Samar furrowed her brow, too intrigued by the revelation for the moment to protest the direction he was pulling her. 'Why light purple all the time?' Aram paused, his lips quirking up with as much of an amused smile as he could muster.    
'He discovered the lavender bushes out here when I first started training him, decided he liked the colour, and hasn't changed it since.'  
'Any other powers I should know about?' Samar blinked as she posed the question. Though still being pulled along deeper and deeper into the garden, she glanced around wildly, strands of hair falling free from her pony tail and flailing through the air about her face.  

They had crossed the wide expanse of grass that she knew Norbert and Jasper did their agility training on each morning. They had passed the row of colourful, flowery bushes, slipped through the wrought iron and jasmine-clad archway in the first wall of tree-lined hedge, and ducked around a corner.  

Alternating stretches of flower bushes and hedges went on in all directions for as far as she could see, like some kind of multicoloured maze. 

On a better day, the dragons would probably love it. 

But in the meantime, and not that she could pinpoint it exactly, there was something odd about the lush expanse of garden that made Samar furrow her brow.  

'Norbert has sonic hearing,' Aram answered. His gaze was focused forwards, ducking and weaving around corner after corner. While Samar felt as if she was being turned around ten times over, Aram knew exactly where they were going and he just kept scuttling forwards. 'Not that he uses it to actually listen all that often.' They rounded another corner, and Samar frowned all the more so, both of them ignoring the squawk of protest from Norbert behind them.  _ She _ was used to being the one in charge of the plan. Now, by contrast, it was as if she was three steps behind, while the adrenaline pulsing through both their veins had fired the normally meek Aram into a level of survival mode that almost rivalled her own. 'And with enough practice, he should be able to fly like a speedster... Though that skill's more like a muscle. It needs to be exercised regularly to be any good.'  
'And Lyra?' Aram stopped just ahead of her right as the final question passed Samar's lips.  

A splintering, wooden door sat neatly nestled in a gap in the hedge, though where it could possibly lead, Samar had no idea. 

The whole, uncomfortably confusing sensation was one that she did  _ not  _ like one bit, but Samar held her tongue. 

By now she knew Aram well enough to trust that he knew what he was doing... Or at least, for the five more minutes she could wait for an explanation. 

'She's musical, or at least she will be when she gets bigger and her vocal chords develop, but...' Aram's hand rested on the door handle, but he turned his head, offering a tiny, curious smile. 'Ever wondered why her type of dragon are known are Blue Spiketails?' Samar simply raised a single, wry eyebrow.   
'Because they're blue?' She drily replied.   
'Well, they are, but that's not why.' Aram pushed the door open, revealing nothing but pitch black darkness deep within 'The fire they breathe is so hot, it burns blue.' Norbert zoomed straight past them, disappearing into the darkness. Aram outstretched his hand for her to take again, but this time Samar held her ground.    
'Aram, why are we going this way, when the Silver Shadow is back that way-' her hand waved with a hint of frustration to the maze of garden behind her '-doing  _ who knows what _ inside your house, looking for us. We need to fight back,  _ not _ run away.'  
'You might be the trained fighter,' Aram mused back, 'but I have the home advantage.' 

_ Wait a minute... _

Suddenly, it clicked in Samar's brain what was so odd about the space. Her eyes went wide in amazement for the second time in as many minutes. 

'This garden is bigger than it looks from the fence outside,' she breathed slowly.    
'Dimensional adjustment spell,' Aram said, nodding quickly; 'but on a larger scale than when people add space to their handbags. It's necessary when you're raising dragons that can grow to a size bigger than the house itself.' He grinned, reaching inside just past the door to something behind the frame.    
'Aram-' Samar tried to start, but before she could even manage to finish the sentence, a light flickered on past the door, revealing only a small room with a staircase leading straight down.    
'-Welcome to the basement back entrance.' Aram quipped. His hand gestured, even faster this time, for her to hurry and follow him inside. 'Everything we need to fight that guy off is down here, and better yet, it tunnels under the house, and loops back to the internal entrance so we can sneak up behind him.' He waggled his brow. 'What were you planning?' 

All Samar could do was shake her head in disbelief. 

'Charging back in, wands blazing,' she murmured. Her gaze met his, and she broke into a grin of her own. 'But I think your plan wins.' 

A soft grumble sounded from behind her and Samar turned, watching Jasper suddenly reappear before her eyes, with Lyra carried gently in his teeth by the scruff her neck. 

'Good boy, Jasper,' Aram beamed. He reached forwards, plucked the tiny hatchling from Jasper's grasp, hurriedly wrapped her in his scarf, and then tucked her into the wide, pouch-like pocket across the front of his hoodie. He held his hand out, gesturing one last time towards the door- and this time, Samar was ready to follow. 'Come on.' 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...Did I mention that the chapter splitting means there's a sort-of-cliffhanger?
> 
> My bad. There's a sort-of-cliffhanger. Again. But never fear, the rest will be up soon enough! :D
> 
> Brace yourselves; Chapter 8 is when all the action goes down!
> 
> Please don't forget to comment, folks! If you love the story, I'd love to hear from you <3


	8. Chapter 8

By 'everything needed to fight the Silver Shadow off,' Aram really did mean  _ everything. _

Lined with floor to ceiling shelves on every wall bearing every one of his inventions and even his attempted inventions, all in multiple prototypes and stages of development, the seemingly never-ending basement was  _ full _ of gadgets that could do just about anything. 

From the failed first attempt at a cloak dewrinkler that had been abandoned early on and vaguely resembled a spiky shower head that still emitted the occasional, strangled spark, to an early attempt at a cauldron scrubber that much preferred skidding across the floor of its own volition, everything there did pretty much everything  _ except  _ what it was supposed to do.  

Which was to say; if they were after endless devices of distraction and even more, spark-emitting and potentially explosive weaponry, they had all the choice in the world.  

Aram's first port of call was an older model of his strappy, dragon holding contraption. It was too big and not quite the right shape for Lyra, but the general concept was all the same, and a quick swish of Aram's wand righted the dimensions in a flash. With the tiny hatchling retrieved from his hoodie pocket –surprisingly, much to her disgust- and strapped far more safely to his chest once again, they hurried onwards. 

Still, the Shadow hadn't seemed to follow them, making them wonder what on earth he was doing upstairs in the main house. 

It filled them both with dread and a looming sense of disaster, but though they had no idea what they would walk back into or how many henchmen could have arrived since their escape from the living room, they did have one key element up their sleeve; by now, the plume of green smoke should have worn off. 

And that left the living room an open field all over again.  

With gadgets strapped all over them and their wands drawn at the ready, Aram and Samar paused by the door at the other end of the basement that would return them to the rest of the main house through the kitchen. 

Samar's heart raced faster and faster. Aram's hands shook slightly, the adrenaline rush that had fuelled him forwards and lit his eyes with fire now fading away and rapidly being replaced by apprehension.  

'Ready?' He asked quietly.    
'Ready,' she whispered back. Samar took a slow, deep breath, noting out of the corner of her eye that Aram did the same. She watched him shift his gaze to the ball of jet black scales hovering just above their heads, the sparking, failed cloak dewrinkler dangling from his claws.    
'Ready, Norbert?' The young dragon, his bright green eyes burning with determination rather than the usual twinkling mischief for once, bobbed his head. His jaw clenched, and a low growl echoed from his throat. 'Ok...' Aram breathed again. He glanced back at Samar again, taking another breath. 'One.' Samar gritted her teeth, bracing herself as she murmured back;   
'Two.' 

Aram's hand clenched around the door handle so tight that his knuckles paled, as both of them whispered the final number of the count in perfect synchronisation; 

_ 'Three.' _

The door back into the kitchen opened by the tiniest of cracks, just enough for Norbert to sail through the air ahead of them. The tiny speedster zoomed fast and high, doing laps of the room in a matter of seconds. Through the crack in the door, the house was dark, but the yelling of a familiar voice and the flashes of red and green light shooting thick and fast up through the air revealed enough. 

The Shadow was alone and better yet, Norbert's distraction was  _ working.  _

Samar pushed through the door, her wand outstretched and firing rapid jinxes through the darkness at the origin of the flashes. It only took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the darkness, and the split second of light from her wand with every jinx lit her path. Norbert continued his laps up ahead, darting and dodging each of the Shadow's curses with astounding agility. Through the darkness, the clanging, clattering, sparking dewrinkler dangling from his claws mimicked the firing of jinxes and easily covered the sound of her footsteps navigating the furniture.  

Something hard smacked into her shins and Samar couldn't help but grimace in pain, but with one hand out to feel her way around the edge, she pushed forwards through the agony shooting down the front of her legs.  

Somewhere above her head, Norbert let out a cackle. 

It was one taunt too far. 

Through the darkness, the Shadow let out a roar of anger that echoed in Samar's ears.  

The room filled with a light out of nowhere that blinded her, forcing her to duck and squeeze her eyes hard shut in pain.  

'Nice try, Navabi,' that sneering, drawling voice set her blood boiling, 'but your stupid dragon won't be anywhere near as effective in the light.' Samar blinked rapidly, willing her eyes to re-adjust again as fast as possible. She glanced up, squinting for a moment as the light streamed back into her eyes, and all of a sudden she realised what it was she had run into seconds earlier. 

He had rearranged the furniture and covered the entire room in a re-scaling spell so that everything in it towered higher than ever before and created a maze-like fortress.  

Samar cursed internally all over again. Not only had the Shadow followed her home instead of going into hiding but now, instead of chasing them on their home turf, he had overtaken it and simply waited them out, saving his energy and _ knowing _ that that they would come back rather than leaving him there.  

_ For Merlin's sake, of all the criminals she had fought off in the past, the Silver Shadow was the most obnoxious, pain in the ass of them all.  _

Behind her, she noted Aram slipping through the door from the basement with Jasper, now quickly camouflaging again, at his heels.  

The pause lasted only a moment. No sooner had her eyes readjusted to the light for the second time, than the Shadow began to fire again. Curses flung from his wand left, right, and centre, with Samar and Aram forced to duck even more than they could fire off their own defensive spells in kind. Samar darted across the room, trying to put some distance between her and Aram that would divide the Shadow's aim and allow both of them better windows of opportunity to fire back.  

The whole room was ablaze with coloured sparks. 

Samar ducked and weaved, hurrying around the couch that was twice its usual size. The Shadow fired as she darted behind it, his explosive curse striking the couch's wooden frame instead and sending splinters and pillow stuffing alike raining down around them. Suddenly, she had no cover. Aram was still across the room, fighting back with fierce determination... But she was uncovered. Samar took a breath, her mind racing in the attempt to find a safer spot in the room to make her stand before the Shadow turned his attention back to her again and realised that she was an open target.  

...But it was too late. 

She turned again just as the Shadow did, the vindictive glee stretching across his face at the sight of her standing there, and sending the dread plummeting deep in her gut. He raised his wand, fiery sparks already beginning to form at the end. Samar lunged sideways, but not quite fast enough. 

Samar gasped as the pain of the curse seared through her shoulder. Her arm whipped out, her entire right side pushed back by the force of the blast. Her wand slipped from her fingertips as they uncurled in kind, lurching through the air. 

It seemed to soar in slow motion as her eyes tracked it across the room. The Shadow's lip curled up with a smug smirk at the same, both of them falling still for that split second of frozen time until it clattered hard again the floorboards far out of reach.  

Samar's gaze snapped to the Shadow's. Those piercing grey eyes of his bore into her skull and suddenly, he was right in front of her. The tip of his wand stopped just short of her chin. His rancid breath grazed against her skin and she could almost hear his heartbeat thumping in his chest.  

She was cornered. She had nowhere left to go. 

Only in her peripheral vision could she see Aram trying to inch in ever closer from behind him, carefully collecting her wand from the floor as he moved. 

'You come even one step closer,' began the Shadow. His voice was deathly quiet and yet, echoed through the room. His wand hand poked ever closer to her face, and his other hand pointed behind him, the threatening gesture halting Aram in his tracks. 'And you'll have to watch the life drain straight from her eyes.' Samar swallowed, trying to steady her breathing.    
'Ok,' Aram quickly replied, raising both hands in tentative surrender, 'ok, surely we can figure this out-' 

Neither the Shadow nor Samar paid his attempt to negotiate any attention. Their focus was set all to intently on one another, with the villain glancing her up and down like a cat toying with a mouse. 

'-As soon as I heard you were looking for me, I knew it was an opportunity too good to pass up,'  he jeered. 'Samar Navabi, the legendary bounty hunter who strikes fear into the hearts and minds of everyone on Goblin's Bend.' The Shadow shook his head, letting out a laugh of derision that made her clench her jaw. 'Imagine the rebellion that will start when they find out you're finally gone,' he slowly taunted again, 'that I was the one who took you out. They'll follow me like I'm royalty, and it'll all be because of you-' that oh so smug smile only widened across his face and it took everything Samar had not to collide her fist with the most painful part of his face that she could find '-all because you couldn't keep your nose out of my business... Got any famous, last words you'd like me to report back to the masses?' 

Samar tilted her head, the thought suddenly striking her out of nowhere and prompting her lips to quirk up with the faintest hint of a smile. 

_ Norbert had sonic hearing. _

All she had to do was whisper. 

'Norbert,  _ now!'  _ The split second of confusion that crossed the Shadow's face was all it took. The flying speedster zoomed around the corner and through the air with an almighty screech, and the Shadow turned on the spot, only just managing to duck in time for Norbert's clawed feet to graze his hair rather than colliding entirely.  

Samar lurched sideways and around him, her heart thumping rapidly in her chest. Her eyes locked with Aram's across the room, and his hand dropped instantly to her wand poking out of his trouser pocket. She gave a single, short nod and the wand went flying, soaring through the air across the room towards her. Samar jumped, her fingers  _ just _ curling around the handle and snatching it down from above. 

Even before her feet found their way back to the ground, her wand arm stretched out, pointing it sharply back at their invading villain just as Aram did the same from behind him.  

'What was that about last words now?' She asked drolly. 'There's two of us and only one of you.' The Shadow tilted his head. He glanced over his shoulder and back again, sizing them both up, before lifting his wand again anyway. 

This time, it pointed straight back at Aram, even though his eyes remained firmly fixed on her. 

A breath caught in Samar's throat. 

'It's still a standoff,' he observed, the words rolling off his tongue so sardonically it made her blood boil. 'That's the difference between you and me. You let  _ feelings _ get in the way.' He smirked again. Bright red sparks began to sizzle from the end of his wand, hovering dangerously close to Aram's chest. 'There might be two of you, but neither of you will do anything because you know that as soon as you do, it'll come at the cost of the other.'  

Samar gritted her teeth. Merlin, his confidence was  _ maddening. _ And what was worse was that, technically, he was right to boot. 

...But what he didn't count on was Lyra. 

The tiny hatchling poked her head up from inside the contraption still strapped to Aram's chest, disgruntled by the red sparks that came all too threateningly close. Her gleaming, blue eyes narrowed and though fragile, her chest puffed with the sharp intake of breath that the Shadow never saw coming.  

And then she blew.  

The effort behind the breath shook her tiny body and slammed her back against Aram's chest. The flames that erupted were little more in size than a spitball... But they barrelled through the air, bright blue and  _ piping _ hot, only almost falling short of the target. 

_ Almost. _

The tiny burst of flames reached far enough to just graze the knuckles curled around the handle of the red-sparking wand, making the Shadow jump and yelp in pain. His head whipped around in a rage and his hand clenched around his wand tighter still, charging towards Aram with that slim length of wood aiming straight for the centre of the tiny dragon's chest.  

Time stood still for the umpteenth time.  

Samar's eyes went wide and her lips parted ways to yell, but no sound came out.  

An enraged screech thundered against the eardrums of everyone in the room. A flash of jet black scales hurtled across the room so fast that it was little more than a blur. Norbert's wings outstretched wide and he dived, flinging himself between Lyra and the fire curse just beginning to form at the end of the Shadow's wand.  

And then time lurched forwards. 

Flaming sparks lashed Norbert's wing, sending the tiny speedster clattering to the ground. 

The sheer force through the air from his nosedive pushed the Shadow back a step, and he stumbled.  

The faint outline of movement rippled through the air around the Shadow's legs, sending him tumbling. 

Samar charged forwards, making the most of his falling momentum, and pushing him down before he could catch his balance. Jasper snatched the wand from his hand and  _ bolted  _ across the room, just as Samar came crashing down, pinning the Shadow to the ground and prodding her own wand straight into his neck. 

The Shadow swallowed hard, before giving in. He raised his arms in surrender.  

Not to be outdone, a ball of dark fur darted out from a corner, appearing by Samar's side in a flash before jumping deftly onto the Shadow's chest. Paw by paw, the temperamental cat crept carefully forward towards the Shadow's face, placing one front paw oh so deliberately either side of his eye sockets and gently flexing each one.  

The Shadow stopped squirming in an instant, his eyes widening in horror at the sheer proximity of razor sharp claws to where  _ nobody  _ ever wanted them. 

Samar blinked. 

'Felix,' she gaped. 'Where have you been the whole time?' 

The cat simply tilted his head, glancing back at her and letting out an all too innocent mew.  

/*/*/*/* 

Magical law enforcement wasted no time in coming to take the Shadow away. The aging warlock bowed his head, scowling as the metal cuffs slapped around his wrists that subdued his power, and knowing that it was his own arrogance that had brought about his end.  

Samar turned, finally panning her gaze across the room. 

It was a  _ shambles.  _

All the furniture, altered in size and then blown to pieces in the ensuing fight, was scattered everywhere. The light overhead could only flicker feebly –whether it had been crashed into by a flying speedster or hit by one too many jinxes, Samar had no idea. One window was smashed, the curtains either side of it torn to shreds. Only a single, small nest box sitting in the corner remained untouched.  

Across the room, Aram was crouched down on the floor, an anxious frown furrowing his brow.  

_ Norbert. _

With the villain's arrest out of the way, Samar hurried across the room towards the dragon rescuer and his charge who had once driven her crazy so long ago. She crouched down beside Aram, eyeing the mischievous dragon crumpled on the floor. He was winded, badly, but still breathing all the same. The wing struck by the fire curse held slightly askew, with a bright orange gash forming a jagged line across its leathery underside.  

'How is he?' Samar asked softly. As if on cue, the tiny dragon squirmed on the floor.   
'Stubborn, as usual,' Aram murmured back. Tears stung in his eyes, but he managed a strangled laugh.    
'Is he going to be ok?' Jasper's lilac snout pushed softly past her. His teeth, moving ever so gently, pulled Lyra from the straps around Aram's chest and set her down by Norbert's good side. She curled into it instantly, burying her tiny head against his neck as his good wing wrapped protectively around her, almost hiding her away entirely. Jasper leaned in, nuzzling both with a soft whine erupting from his throat.  

Norbert squirmed again, trying to nuzzle them both back. 

'Hey, hey, stay still Norbert,' Aram instructed –albeit gently. The tip of his wand traced that jagged, orange line across Norbert's wing, his quiet words turning it a deep shade of purple from one end to the other. 'There we go,' he said, softer this time. Aram reached forwards, carefully scooping Norbert and Lyra up together with both hands, before settling them down gently in the nest box in the corner. 'He's winded, and he'll have to rest his wing for a couple of weeks, but...' He turned his gaze to Samar, offering a wistful smile. 'There shouldn't be any permanent damage.' 

Aram pulled up what was left of a dining chair, lowering himself to sit just beside the box, and staring in. Without even thinking about it, Samar leaned in, resting on his knee. Her head tilted against his shoulder, and his arm wrapped around her waist, holding her steady there. Jasper crept up on Aram's other side, resting his chin softly against the upper edge of the box.  

Silence filled the air between them all. The breathing of the two smaller dragons slowed with much needed slumber.  

Flickering and flashing lights went on around them. The cool breeze of the night floated in through the smashed window pane.  

Nobody moved to repair the smashed furniture that surrounded them. 

They sat there wordlessly, watching on like a silent trio of guards.  

The furniture could wait. 

The Shadow was gone. They were ok.  

And that was all that mattered. 


	9. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...I may have tried to parallel a lil' something from canon towards the end of this one. You'll know it when you see it :D

**_ONE YEAR LATER..._ **

The stars twinkled in the sky like a fine gold dust sprinkled over a cloudless, deep blue velvet. It was neither too cold nor too warm, with only a light breeze dancing gently across Samar's bare arms. She stifled a yawn, a pleasantly content tiredness just starting to tug at her eyelids like it had done regularly over the last few weeks, as she watched Aram push the front door open. 

'Is it wrong,' he began, offering her a weary smile as they stepped inside and the door fell softly closed behind them, 'that though it's nice to get dressed up and have a night out, I find it even nicer to return home again at the end?' Samar smiled back, giving a quick shake of her head.  

Dressed up was an understatement. Between her flowing, navy blue cocktail dress and shimmering heels that matched the sky outside beautifully, and Aram's sharp suit and matching, blue tie, they were dressed to impress. And impressed they had, at the award ceremony where, despite his humble awkwardness, Aram had been the centre of attention.  

There was no denying that it had been an enjoyable night out that was just the most recent in a series of late, but Samar agreed with him wholeheartedly; neither of them were comfortable having a fuss made over them, and they both loved the peace and quiet of each other's company in the privacy of their own home.  

The living room lights flickered on around them, casting a dusky glow over the long-repaired space. Well entrenched in their evening routine now, Aram wandered towards the fridge for a moment, and Samar paused by the edge of the couch, offering Felix a quick scratch between the ears before continuing on down the corridor and out into the back garden. Within all of a few seconds, and just as she stepped back out onto the deck, Aram fell into step with her again, a silver tray of fresh dragon dinner balanced on one hand. 

Bright blue scales glowing in the moonlight, Lyra's head popped up over the hedge, eyeing them gleefully for a moment before the rest of her body followed suit. She strode towards them, happy, confident, and with a spring in her step, towering over them now before sitting back on her haunches at the edge of the deck, waiting for her dinner. The sheer size of her form now cast a shadow over at least two thirds of the deck, blocking out the moonlight and cloaking them in darkness. With her core body alone now the size of a small SUV, Lyra bowed her head, still trilling softly with the giddy affection of her young age that was a stark contrast to her fully grown size as Samar stood on her tiptoes to reach up, rubbing her neck.  

Other dragon rescues came and went, some staying only for a few days and others for a few months before finally finding their forever homes or returning to the wild, but for Lyra, Norbert, and Jasper, their home was right there. With Samar, Aram, and Felix, they were a family, and there they would stay.  

Jasper padded out softly from behind Lyra's tail. Norbert soared gleefully overhead, his outstretched wings flying easily despite the impressive scar across one side that, if anything these days, he only seemed to enjoy showing off. He settled by her feet, all three forming their patient queue for food. Jasper could only _ just  _ still fit inside the house now, and Norbert... Well, Norbert was back to being the smallest again. No longer was he small enough to perch comfortably on a human shoulder but from head to toe he was at most, as tall as their knees.  

...Not that being fully grown made any difference whatsoever to the mischief that still gleamed in his eyes, but at least the shimmering ball of jet black scales could now sit still with a  _ relative _ degree of calm.  

Aram set the tray down in front of them, grinning as all three began to tuck in to their dinner, vanishing it in a matter of seconds.  

His coat draped around her shoulders, and Samar turned on the spot, facing him again. A soft smile lit Aram's face; the kind that was contagious and made her eyes crinkle in kind in a heartbeat. He brushed that forever frustrating strand of loose hair back behind her ear and leaned in, dotting a quick kiss to her lips... But Samar lingered close, even as he tried to pull away. Her hands worked their way up along his tie, pulling gently until he leaned in again, wrapping his arms around her, and she pressed her lips to his, deeper this time. He smiled against her touch, tilting his forehead to stay resting against hers even after the need to breathe got in the way of anything more.  

Samar sank into his arms, enjoying the warmth of them wrapped around her, holding her close.  

Around them, not that either of them really noticed, the three dragons returned to their ambling through the garden. Music, soft and slow, began to reverberate from Lyra's throat, as it so often did these days now that she was grown. She hummed to herself without even realising it, the tune and the beat reflective of her mood. Late in the evening, with a full belly and heavy eyelids, it was deep, peaceful, and absent-minded.  

Aram began to sway in time with the trees that waved and weaved in the gentle breeze, his slow movement leading Samar to do the same. Her arms slipped over his shoulders, linking at the back of his neck. She rested her head against his shoulder, gazing contentedly out into the garden around them, and Aram rested his atop hers.  

Dancing, slow and steady, under the twinkling, moonlit sky with all the space they could ever want around them... It was a stark contrast to the more upbeat tempo they had battled amongst the crowd in the ballroom earlier in the evening.  

Mere minutes felt like hours, and in the best possible way.  

Aram let out a happy sigh that Samar could feel against her chest and she broke into a soft smile.  

If only they could stay there like that forever.  

Something sparkled in the outermost corner of her peripheral vision, but Samar thought little of it.  

'I, uh, I have something for you,' Aram's voice murmured softly in her ear. She glanced up, meeting his gaze again. 'And I wanted to ask you something. Um-' a shy smile etched its way across his face and Aram stopped swaying, shuffling awkwardly on the spot instead, before drawing anxious breath '-I know this isn't the usual thing that someone starts to ask this question with, but I've wanted to ask you for the last week and this arrived in the mail right around the same time, which I'd wanted to surprise you with anyway, and it just seemed right to-'   
'-Aram,' Samar quietly interjected. Aram froze mid-rambling sentence, gaping for a moment before bowing his head. His shoulders tensed ever so slightly, but a sheepish smile tugged at his lips.    
'Right, sorry.' He dug quickly into his trouser pocket, pulling out a slim, white envelope and pushing it into her hands. 'Here.'   
'This is...' Samar's eyes scanned quickly across the page. 'The patent for your self-warming gloves?'   
_ 'Our _ self-warming gloves,' he corrected -albeit gently, 'which, I want to frame and put on the wall next to my workbench.' 

That distant sparkle flashed again, somewhere in the opposite direction this time, but Samar's gaze was otherwise focused. One line of text in particular on the page caught her eye; the very line where the owner of the patent was listed... And there, right next to Aram's name, was hers as well.  

Her eyes widened with surprise. She hadn't asked or even expected him to do that, nor had he said that he was going to.  

It wasn't necessary, but it was sweet. And so very him.  

'Aram,' she laughed softly, glancing up from the page again. Her brow furrowed with confusion, but she broke into an affectionate, wistful smile all the same. 'Tonight was your fifth and biggest award so far for creating an antidote to blindside potion, something that nobody has been able to crack before, and  _ this _ is what you want to frame?'   
'Yeah.' He nodded quickly. 'Of all the things I've created, all the acknowledgements I've received... This is what I'm proudest of-' he shuffled on the spot again '-because it's something  _ we _ did, together.' 

The expression on Samar's face softened. 

'You did all the hard work,' she pointed out.   
'But it was your idea, and I loved working on it with you.'    
'Aram-' a familiar, jet black silhouette whooshed past her, barely visible against the night sky save for that ever-distracting sparkle dangling from one set of claws. Samar furrowed her brow, curious now '-ok, what on earth is going on?' 

The tiny, sparkling object seemed to pass from shadow to shadow around them, and only then did Samar note the change in Lyra's distant tune. The slow, soft music rang with undertones of excited anticipation, growing ever so slightly faster as the seconds wore on. Whatever was going on, the three dragons were in on Aram's plan... His hand dropped down by his side, and as if on cue, Jasper's lilac snout pushed the sparkling object between his fingers.  

Aram blinked. He swallowed, hard. That nervous tension in his shoulders intensified all the more. The smile on his face disappeared, replaced with something far more earnest. His dark eyes bore into hers, hoping and pleading, and catching a breath in her throat.  

'Samar,' he began. He swallowed again, and exhaled slowly in the attempt to steady himself. 'Everything I've worked on in the last year has been my best work, because I've done it with you right there by my side.' Aram's gaze flickered for a moment to Jasper and Norbert, leaning in so close they were almost pressed up against his legs. 'We were a trio of lost sheep, and then you came along.' His gaze flickered next to Lyra, the instant burst of pride at the sight of her showing easily across his face. 'You brought us together, and  _ you _ made us a family.' Aram's eyes met hers again. 'I want to spend all my days with you-' a nervous smile began to tug at the corners of his lips, and Aram gestured quickly to all three dragons slowly inching in closer and closer around them '-and them-' that smile widened, and Aram's hand pulled in closer, coming in to rest ever so gently on the faint bump beginning to grow at her mid-section that had taken them all by surprise, and even more so when Norbert had been the one to sense its presence first '-and this little one too. So I guess what I wanted to say is...' Slowly but surely Aram began to crouch down, dropping to one knee and holding up the ring that glimmered doubly so in the moonlight reflected off dragon scales. Samar's hand clapped softly to her mouth, covering a gasp. 'Samar Navabi, will you marry me?' 

She stared back at him in surprise, and time stood still. 

One year earlier, when she had been so irritated to find a young Norbert having broken into her house down the street, this had been the last result she would have ever expected.  

She had been so used to being alone... To spending day in, day out, chasing dark wizards, going home to sleep and then repeating that cycle over and over again for years. It had swallowed up her life after her family had passed, until she had forgotten what it felt like to do or have anything else.  

And then that day she had knocked on Aram's front door had changed everything.  

Just like that, the sunshine had returned to her life again and swept her up in it in what felt like the blink of an eye.  

Never would she have thought before that she would spend her bounty hunting days flying with a dragon by her side, nor her nights at home surrounded by the scaly, ferocious looking creatures who in reality, rolled around like oversized puppies and snuggled warmly into her side.  

Never before would she have thought it, but now she never wanted to imagine a life with anything but.  

'Yes.' The word unstuck from her throat and slipped past her lips, almost inaudible. Samar reached down, taking his hands in hers and pulling gently until he rose to his feet again. 'Yes,' she repeated, a little louder this time. She wound her arms around the back of his neck again, pulling him closer and closer, and laughing with disbelieving joy against his lips. 'Definitely, yes.' 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we go, folks! Another fic all wrapped up. 
> 
> Thanks for reading <3


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